I stand accused...

Richard Moleofe | Tuesday October 21, 2014 17:22

 

In his lyrics he goes on to say, I am a victim of circumstances. That was music. I sometimes listen to today’s music and just wonder why on earth they would call such noise music. I mean, kwaito is not music in all honesty. It’s just bulk noise and it’s a pity that our young people are running after this thinking its music.

In life one does not just become a victim of circumstances unless you have done something. Isaac Hayes was guilty of loving someone. This is so because every action provokes a reaction. So, one becomes a victim of circumstances in one way or the other as a result of their actions. At times when the results show, for lack of terms we call it coincidence.

As I have been receiving feedback from a lot of people who read me in my weekly column on this publication, it has become very clear that most are concerned about my safety. Their fears emanate from the fact that I have been writing a lot of unpalatable things about the intelligence community in Botswana. For a moment I want to give the intelligence community some form of respite as I will cease writing about intelligence work. This is meant to allow myself time to concentrate on elections, the greatest event in any democracy. It’s election season and I cannot try to be oblivious of the fact that this season shows up only once in five years. There is a lot to write about intelligence and in fact the best way to deal with it is to write a complete book about this establishment.

In answer to the concerns raised by what I can term as my followers, I would like to affirm that I am equally concerned about the same. However, fear will not suppress me from enriching our democracy by continuing this column. Like someone has said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In the daily radio soapy on Motsweding FM, called Seboloke, a dominant character called Mawik says, “kante mme letshogo le go thusa ka eng? O tlaa dira eng o tshwerwe ke moteteselo? (how does fear help you? And what can you achieve if you are fearful?)”

 One of the things that intelligence organs are good at is to put fear in your heart and once they have achieved that they know that will give you energy to run away from your own shadows for a very long time. Fear will suppress you from partaking in democracy and effectively helping to develop your own country by way of contributing ideas. Of course I am dreadful of this institution and there is no doubt about this fact. They can destroy you if they want to. So what gives me the energy to keep on writing? I am a republican, and in a republic it is the views of the public that should prevail. It is through the media, the fourth estate, that some of us have found a good haven where we can propagate our ideas.

In a true republic, contributing to enrich the ideals and institutions of democracy is nothing that should provoke any establishment that has been set up within the parameters of our constitution. It is so because they are supposed to work within the confines of our constitution. The constitution reigns supreme in all democracies and we need to adjust that at election time as we see that the ruling party has gone astray on this matter. Like many have written before me, our constitution is long overdue for an overhaul and reconditioning if I may borrow from motor mechanical engineering. Botswana remains to be a homogeneous society and inter-marriages have enriched this culture. It is through these relatives by marriage that some information has been leaked to me regarding the leadership’s views on my writings.

So I stand accused and my accusers cannot take me before a court of law because I write to positively contribute to our democracy. Hayes says he stands accused in a court of love, “if there is anything like that.” But as for me, I stand accused in a court of ‘bureaucratic perceptions.’ In as much as there are many men and women who are willing to be henchmen, there are still a few good men out there.  One thing I can tell you is that you can’t put a good man down even in his death. The death of a righteous man prevails much. I don’t live in fear because I know that I am not committing any crime and hence I cannot be tried in a court of law. But I stand accused. Because I stand accused, I have serious security concerns. I never thought I would ever be concerned about the car driving behind me in this country. Yes, that’s the current reality in the changing Botswana.

 I spent my youth as a soldier and served until I retired my commission after serving twenty years as a career military man. In all honesty, I never thought during those years at Botswana Defence Force that one day I would be fearful of the very government I vowed to serve and did it diligently with distinction. For my diligence I was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal (DSM). Then how do I justify to a friend from any part of the world why I go to bed with a loaded pump action short gun under my pillow? It’s because I fear my government. Is this a reality in a democracy? Yes, it is possible when our democracy has reached a decomposing stage. But fear is not going to deter me from being a firebrand that I am. 

And what is the genesis of these perceptions? The current administration is fearful of the media, ex soldiers and opposition politicians and lately church ministers have made it into the list. Unfortunately I find myself in the first three categories I have listed here and that’s no good news for the powers that be. For those who live in fear of losing power, their only best option is to instil fear in others.  The discomfort of the rulers emanates from the fact that the opposition is beginning to swell in their ranks with great numbers of ex soldiers.

Living between reality and nostalgia is something we all go through at one or two points in our lives, but we have to be awake to the reality of a sliding democracy where decent is abhorred by the rulers. This is a wakeup call to all those of my friends in the media who think they are not targeted by the rulers. The media has tremendous effect on public opinion and I am aware of the fact that it brings a lot of discomforts to the rulers. And if you are a member of the media fraternity and you don’t think you are not on their target list, then you are seriously delusional and suffering from an acute state of somnambulism or what is referred to as sleep walking in simpler terms. 

*Richard Moleofe is a Retired Military Officer