Universal suffrage: you bet! Informed: don�t be stupid!

| Thursday October 23, 2014 16:29

I had the chance to vote, and duly did, the 40 kms drive to the polling station was no deterrent nor was the fact that I could not vote a local council representative of my choice. The past few days social media was replete with political messaging by Facebook savvy operatives and journalist-cum political operatives, these reached fever pitch and I for one was left with no choice but to temporarily ‘unfriend’ some good friends. I will re friend you guys post elections! My reading of the atmosphere in the electioneering thus far is that not much is on offer rather than the tired and worn out banality of political demagoguery and outright chicanery by the pretenders to the echelons of political power.

On my way back from the polling station, there in relative solitude, within the inert confines of my car save for the hum of the diesel engine I was jolted in to some soul searching. l What really informed my vote? l Does my vote really matter? l Did I afford this noble activity due diligence, that is did I acquaint myself with the different political platforms/manifestoes before I cast my vote? Yes

Clearly, an approach to voting that would have been informed by such analysis and logic would befit an informed voter let alone a scientific mind. I have always been a fervent but measured supporter of a certain political ideology, though very vociferous in closely knit social settings about my standpoint. To the wider public I remain rather reticent about politicking.

This is an election cycle like none other in the history of our beloved Botswana. It comes at a time when many a government, political parties and mega-churches alike are struggling with the towering presence of social media, and the implications therein for a civil political discourse. The populace in general is awe stricken by the growth and emergence of messianic preachers who go by the title prophet—An addition that one would hope will lead to a more tolerant, civil debate within the country. The exact opposite is becoming the norm, despite having a few men of the cloth littering the political landscape, this to me is an unfortunate development indeed. A new addition to our political discourse is the buzzword ‘accountability’---This word is indeed trending! And rightfully, it should, and should thus be part of any conscientious voter’s prepared algorithm as to who to elect. I am conflicted though as to who should be held accountable for civil service malfeasances. Politicians are anything but figureheads for the most part, and we have a system of government that at times does flatter botsadi. Imagine a situation where the Minister of Finance is not conversant with a financial statement and cannot roll off words like earnings per share, dividends, DuPont analysis, PE ratio etc. (both financial accounting terms) at the tip of a tongue BUT because of political capital gained from an election the said individual finds himself appointed Minister of Finance! If the Pula tanks or more soberly pension funds of thousands of employees go south, can we honestly blame the poor politician? My answer is a resounding NO! Heads should roll yes, and it should be the technocrats who were responsible for the policies and by extension failures! Thus, my not so well learned analysis is that our system has an inherent incongruence between ‘the figureheads’ and the engine of governance (civil servants). This incongruence has to be rectified for the likes of me and others to say the right people are being held accountable. I have a dream, but I am afraid it is likely to come to naught. I dream of a day when our cabinet is chosen in the manner similar to that of the yanks, where cabinet secretaries are men with working knowledge and requisite experience of the portfolios that they oversee. This maxim has held for the post of Attorney General in our government. I stand to be corrected, but I greatly doubt that the republic has ever bestowed this title on anyone with no legal training! Why then do we think a dairyman for instance can supervise and oversee accountants and financial analysts? It is indeed folly! Sorry for the lengthy digression, what informed my vote? My vote should have been informed by amongst other variables, the following; l Our national wellbeing as I see it l Human Development Reports e.g. HDI l  GDP (almost defunct as meaningful yardstick) l Local media and the stories about corruption and malfeasance. l Transparency International’s Corruption Index l Mo Ibrahim’s various governance indices lSocial Media??? NOT Those are but a few of the variables that should have formed my algorithm with each parameter weighed according to its importance. Remember the Clinton era; It’s the economy, stupid! Mantra. I fancy a matrix skewed ever more towards the economy as there will be positive flow on effects towards the people’s development. The political landscape and debate has however offered nothing of the sort other than platitudes and motherhood statements. It is disappointing that in this age no political party has either looked at the national budget of the past two years and come up with a financial budget that we can all read and say Plan A far beats Plan B. I am sure there is credible cadre within all the political parties to produce such a document, without it we are left with slogans and promises—these are devoid of the necessary costing and as such we cannot make an informed decision. Economy looms large my friends--it always does, without a clear economic path i.e. how do we generate revenue X, and from what sources? And most importantly if we axe programme Y what better figment do we replace it with, and at what cost? And to all parties the big question is what the forecast budget surplus/deficit will be in 2018? Are there any private public partnerships in the offing regarding importation of water, and if so at what cost to the consumer?

After such lengthy musings and ruminations my friends, I did not use logic in my vote. For once I threw away the scientific method—I voted with my heart! In a nutshell, I was not offered anything by the protagonists to apply my analytical mind. But ours is an evolving political discourse, next time around I hope there will be alternative budgets to interrogate before casting our votes!

“The person who has never ventured out of her childhood home thinks his or her own mother is the only cook”

 

Ben Radihephi