The ruling party arrogance exceeds all understanding!
Michael Dingake | Tuesday July 12, 2016 15:22
Would we have Burundians dying like we see under arrogant Nkurunziza? The number of mad rulers is in inverse proportion to that of common lunatics! Would terrorism, revolution, war and protest demonstrations persist, without arrogant attitudes of rulers who think they are God almighty, omnipotent and everlasting? In Sebirwa language you come across such arrogant persons who show the middle finger to challenge others, “O to ntheng?” (What can you do?) That’s if you dare object to what they do or say. Often, these loudmou ths are mere windbags, without capacity to defend their turf! ‘O to ntheng’ however is the attitude that breeds deadlocks, quarrels, fights and violence.
Historically, Botswana was an oasis of peace in a turbulent world.
Can we expect Batswana to stay docile and peaceful when her rulers are arrogant and constantly respond with ‘o to ntheng’ when the subjects beg and plead? I doubt! Recently there was a case in court of naked corruption: PPADB was allegedly involved in a transparently flawed tender! How could it happen? The tragic-comedy could be traceable back to the corruption bug gnawing at our social fabric. Because the necessary anti-corruption laws are nowhere, the executive does as it wishes: O to ntheng? They forget, even a worm will turn! Batswana have been calling for Declaration of Assets and Liabilities law, to stem the corruption tidal wave white-anting the country, to no avail. The law, including the Freedom of Information bill has been in a long O-to-ntheng pipeline!
For ages, the opposition, sections of the public, some BDP supporters including prominent officials, have agitated for amendment of the constitution to abolish Specially Elected Members of Parliament (S.E MPs) and Councils, without success.
When the provision was initially adopted, the objective was to plug the deficiency hole of qualified personnel conversant or trainable to serve the new Parliament and the Councils. Bechuanaland suffered poverty of University graduates. It was pathetic. Almost 50 years after independence Botswana can and ought to dispense with this provision. It has served its purpose.
The provision has become redundant, embarrassing, arrogant and scandalous.
University graduates roam the streets in their thousands; they are pressed into demeaning, unhelpful internship programs. In spite of the overabundance of suitable candidates in the electoral market, Domkrag arrogantly plans to amend the constitution to increase the S.E MPs. Phew!
How to awaken our rulers to smell the coffee is homework for all Batswana. Contrary to the theory that politics is a dirty game, politics is better defined as a retributive game that visits parents’ sins on their children. Parents should be reminded that if they truly love their children, they must desist from inviting the wrath of the coming generations.
The next generation cannot be expected to be amused by the state of government arrogance that prevails here and now. Increasing the number of S.E MPs when all progressive, sensible minds, demand to see their backs from Parliament, is outrageous! Outside the BDP camp, the move must be viewed as a casus belli. How does the BDP justify this abnormal conduct under-mining democracy? Government by the people is subtly reduced to government by President Dr Ian Khama and his dom party. The aim is to shore the collapsing BDP. You can’t promote democracy by entrenching the ruling party in office by appointing MPs when the electorate is constitutionally entitled to elect their representatives! Resources will be siphoned off the treasury into funding the sinking BDP ship and to raise the volume of jarring noises of arrogance in Parliament.
Fiction isn’t fact. The day is nigh when Batswana will say this far and no farther. It doesn’t need a diviner to predict that Batswana of tomorrow won’t be Batswana of today. Already the mileage to destination unknown is decreasing fast. When I grew up, in the summer months it was common for Batswana to sleep in open courtyards (malwapa) fearing the sweltering summer heat in their mud huts, criminals far from their minds. Peace reigned in the villages, and in every nook and cranny of the country; dikgosi weren’t arrogant bullies, but rulers at peace with their subjects; subjects were consulted not scorned. Batswana were happy and at peace with themselves. Visitors returned to their homes impressed by the peacefulness and happiness of Batswana; they recorded their experience in history books. Today Botswana has changed; Batswana rob and even rape tourists! Why?
In 1964, in Lobatse young black South Africans fleeing from apartheid persecution popped a question I shan’t forget. “Bra Mike,” they asked me, “we have been here more than a week and we have yet to witness a street fight. What kind of people are these, your people…?” In answer, I reminded them: back in SA, blacks live under awful conditions; they are always tense, their tempers on a short fuse. Here it’s different. People are basically content because they aren’t persecuted by authorities! Even in SA you don’t catch whites in street fights! Do you?
Today Batswana are unemployed, underpaid, impoverished, treated with arrogance exceeding all understanding. Arrogant rulers have arrived. The atmosphere prevailing in 1964 has evaporated. Street fights? Not yet; but knifing, shooting at drinking-holes occurs. Worse, armed robberies have become routine. Violent resistance, we see around the world will soon be here, not imported by ISIS, Boko Haram or Al Shabaab, but brewed right here in our pots of arrogance! It’s coming!