Dealing with authoritarianism: The people and the President

Dithapelo Keorapetse | Friday September 18, 2015 17:04

While other African countries abandoned democratic constitutions written to them by their former colonial masters in favour of undemocratic alternatives such as one party states, military dictatorships and kleptocracies etcetera, Botswana held multiparty elections every five years. However, the accolades accorded to Botswana were more or less a case of “one eyed man being king in the world of the blind” because its democracy wasn’t subjected to more profound yardsticks of democracy. Not much scrutiny was put on issues of separation of powers and the rule of law.  Now it is common knowledge that Botswana has been surpassed by other new entrants into the system of democracy, notably South Africa and Namibia in the region. What people are witnessing now in our judiciary is not surprising and is not new. These bad laws empowering the anti-democracy forces to do as they please with our courts have always been there since independence. 

Make no mistake about it, this is an all out war for survival by the soft autocratic regime. The suspension of justices of the High Court is a tip of the ugly big anti-democracy iceberg. None of this makes sense at all. Why did the Chief Justice report an administrative matter to the police? Year in year out the accounting officers including Registrars and Masters of the High Court and the Industrial Court, the Accountant General, the Auditor General and the Public Accounts Committee among others deal with administrative issues of overpayments and underpayments. The police are never involved in these matters. So what is rally going on here? Twelve justices wrote a petition about the uncalled for posture of the Chief Justice, why then single out four justices out of 12 for suspension and leave the other eight out? Divide and rule? 

When a country is dealing with an insecure and ruthless dictator and a dying ruling political party, many people in the top echelons of the bureaucracy, the army, the police, the business, the judiciary and even academia find themselves under too much pressure to please the master and or the establishment. That’s why some people’s actions can’t be explained. President Ian Khama will fire all the judges he doesn’t want and there’s little Batswana can do about it. What is worse is that even if he fires all the 12 judges or whatever number, there won’t be a crisis in terms of cases not being attended to at the High Court. There are many lawyers out there in the academia, private practice, prosecution and civil division of the government law firm and in the private sector who are hungry, envious of judgeship, lack conscience and will be happy to be appointed to replace the fired judges. Not many lawyers can say to Ian Khama “thanks but no thanks”. There’s a few who can tell him that he has soiled the institution and that they can’t serve under these untidy circumstances. Some in fact want him to fire as many judges as possible to increase their chances of being called to the bench. Any judge who will withdraw his signature from the petition signed by the 12 judges is not fit to be judge as they lack something very basic for a judge, assertiveness. It has never happened anywhere for a dictator not to touch the judiciary; they usually consolidate their power through among other things packing the bench with those who will serve their interests. 

Progressive lawyers who expect the Law Society of Botswana (LSB) to be more radical are expecting too much. The lukewarm, subtle and risk averse approach to the judicial crisis issue by the  LSB should be condemned with full knowledge that the civic organisation has never been progressive. Pro-democracy forces in the legal fraternity should work on reforming the institution by removing men and women who are stalling progress. How can everything just go on as if nothing has happened? Why are there no protests by the law society? Why is the manual workers union and political parties at the forefront of the fight for justice? LSB has become useless but it can be salvaged through an overhaul.  Batswana want change and can’t afford to have lawyers who can’t emulate Oliver Thambo, Nelson Mandela, George Bizos and many others who sacrificed chasing wealth for the greater good of the society, for justice and for democracy. This spirit of sacrifice has died among many of our enlightened and learned people. Many of them think it should be “bread first, then morals” for them as one philosopher has rightly put it. 

Opposition politicians in and outside parliament should join forces with the fallen judges, the trade union movement fighting the war of justice and other pro-democracy forces in fighting for justice. The Minister responsible for justice should be asked tough third degree questions about what is going at the bench. The Leader of Opposition should make a statement in Parliament on the issue. Batswana and the world should be told about the madness in our country. Alternatives to the suppression of the judiciary by the executive should be presented and promoted.  It has been the media, civil servants in 2011 and trade unions, Dikgosi, opposition political parties, and their politicians, academics and others and now it’s judges dealt with through the iron fist of the dictatorship. Who is next?