Is there a place for special nominations in this day?

Thabo Masalila | Friday December 6, 2019 13:23

The 2019 general elections can at best be summed to have swung on a fear of change. An elected government then presumes consent for its entire programme, and with a majority in parliament, for anything else it wants to introduce in its term of office.

Human rights lawyer Uyapo Ndadi teaches a lot on consent in matters that are sexual in nature. Society should not accept presumed consent in sex. Why then are we made to accept presumed consent it in politics? The barbarism of specially nominated councillors is rape. The voter’s consent is never sought. The 2019 exercise as carried out by Minister Eric Molale has left no one smelling of roses.

Democracy should not be so restrictive to a point where the only valid political role a citizen can play is to become a representative. This reduces a legitimate voice between elections to only a tiny proportion of the population. The provision of council nominations is the shallowest and weakest conception in a democracy. It should be discontinued.

For all the rhetoric about the people’s will, nothing of the kind is on offer. Section 13 of the Local Government Act of 2012 has a restrictive agenda, a narrow range of participants and no time for effective deliberation on who to nominate. The process details the right to apply to a District Commissioner, who in turn passes the thousands of applications to the Minister.

It is then left to the Minister who being a member of a political party has better exposure to cadres in his party by way of engagement in multiple fora. It is thus no surprise that the dispensation tends to favour those proximal to the Minster and his peers. Of the 199 councillors nominated, 114 are from the ruling party, one from Alliance for Progressives (AP) and four from the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC).

Unlike the abomination that is special nomination, the special election of the six Members of Parliament carries a semblance of representative democracy. Anyone can submit a name for special election in Parliament. Once names are adopted, representatives of the electorate cast their votes. In jurisdictions where MPs have not mortgaged their independence and decision making to the whims of the party leadership, it is possible for votes to reflect the will of the people.

The special election of parliamentarians has been reduced to a crude choice to reflect the wish of one individual. If Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) MPs were liberal only Kgotla Autlwetse would have most likely gotten the nod. Bogolo Kenewendo would have retained her seat, with probably someone like Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi also making a comeback as Specially Elected Member of Parliament (SEMP). Even with these shortcoming, SEMP process is a tiuch more democratic than that of councillors.  The nomination of council erodes balance in decision making. It is adversarial as it sees the Minister catapult people to positions of civic leadership, when the voter had no say to their ascendency. In the adversarial nature of representative democracy politicians try to dominate and vanquish their opponents. Deliberative democracy draws citizens together to solve problems.  In a true adversarial display the BDP resorted to the beast that is Section 13 of Act to distort the will of the people. In Mahalapye West, the BDP got six of eight seats. It would therefore make sense for the BDP to take full advantage by nominating the two required seats.

However, in Shoshong the BDP only salvaged two of the nine seats but still went on to nominate two councillors from the BDP. The greatest shame for Molale has to be the dishonourable ill treatment of Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF). As a newcomer and arriving barely three months to elections, BPF got 38 seats countrywide, dominating the Serowe Administrative Authority (SAA).

Having won 11 of the 18 seats, the BPF was expected to lead SAA. But Molale added six BDP nominated councillors to the seven elected at the polls and in the process undoing the voice of the people. Since 1989 it has been a practice that a party with the majority will nominate one more councillor per constituency. This came after the Botswana Peoples Party (BPP) led by Dr Knight Maripe and John Mosojane petitioned over actions akin to those of today.

In 1984, the BPP won seven seats and the BDP four in Francistown. The BDP then nominated four BDP councillors thus eroding the BPP’s majority. Following protests, Lesedi Mothibamele as Minister of Local Government and Lands conceded and allowed the BPP to nominate four councillors thus restoring their lead. The Botswana National Front (BNF) having suffered the same fate as the BPP also called for the same dispensation resulting in the BNF also leading Gaborone. Maripe and Mosojane fought that if “the special nomination practice was not discontinued, at least the will of the people, with respect to which party is the majority be respected”.

And then there is personal trauma. Those who make the grade have endure all sorts of insults. Former Vice President Ponatshego Kedikilwe is on recording calling for the discontinuation of this anomaly. What was once a good tool to compensate for skills deficiency has been turned into a device of patronage.

It is no surprise that some of the BDP lackeys who went on rampage insulting anyone who dared opposed their desired candidates thought they will be rewarded for the unpalatables. In this instance, Molale has to be commended for not wielding as this would compare to rewarding undesirable traits.

There are some sycophants who still made the grade, and some women unfairly accused of sleeping with appointing authorities. Then there are your typical eyesores, like Ponatshego Tshiping. Not all is broken is a system. There are notable nominations who will certainly make a good contribution. All however, are beneficiaries of a flawed system where selection process is not clearly guided. Worst still is the how steadfast government is in prioritising this obsolete exercise ahead of teachers, nurses, doctors and many other professions that would enhance the quality of life of citizens.

We are in no better place! Scrap the damn thing.