The worst crisis at the worst time

Mmegi Editor | Friday April 23, 2021 16:22

Cabinet is regarded as the principal advisory body to the President while the BDP is the party currently in power.

These are significant bodies whose actions are critical to the growth of the country’s economy as well as the smooth running of our democracy. The tensions within government are not a new thing. However, this is absolutely the last thing Batswana need or deserve at a time when all hands should be on deck fighting COVID-19.  

President Mokgweetsi Masisi seems to be struggling to find solutions to problems affecting his government. There have been  reports on procurement corruption and lack of audited COVID-19 projects which are spending. Just last week Friday, the Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Dumezweni Mthimkhulu was at pain trying to explain and justify a face mask tender won by Moffat Group worth P20 million.

It is not the only one as there are several other tenders awarded during COVID-19 pandemic and the State of Public Emergency (SoE) that were subjected to public scrutiny as they were said to have been awarded on direct appointments by the Office of the President under some questionable circumstances.

Coupled with that, in the past, there have also been several calls for Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) audits after government spent P4 billion but nothing has been done to explain the expenditure let alone account for how the money was spent. Recently, there has been some chopping and changing of critical personnel in key government positions. In the middle of both health and economic crises brought by the spectre of the coronavirus, we saw the Minister of Finance being reshuffled amidst allegations of unhappiness within Cabinet.

All of these matters are damning to the reputation of this country and could erode public confidence in the system. They also have a direct bearing on the direction we are taking as a country. Masisi should be at the forefront to ease Batswana’s concerns about his grip on his Cabinet and commitment to fight corruption and thereby ensure public confidence in his government.

And as they say, when two giants fight, it is the grass that suffers, Batswana will obviously not benefit from the infightings within Cabinet and the BDP.

In fact, they will be very much negatively affected by the state of affairs. We urge President Masisi to get his house in order.  He should rise and assure the nation that he is indeed the man at the wheel. Batswana need him at this moment to show his leadership and allegiance to the promises he made when he took oath to serve at the highest office in the land.

Today’s thought

“The purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness. Government exists for the interests of the governed, not for the governors”

– Thomas Jefferson