Rest on laurels: Bot50 golden jubilee
Dithapelo Keorapetse | Friday October 7, 2016 16:15
The amiable crowds gathered at the stadium and other venues across the country last week Friday decked out in the national colours of sky blue, black and white for the festivities. At the Independence Eve celebrations, many were imbued with euphoria by the armed forces theatrics and the head of state was swept off his feet by Dr Vom’s number, his dance moves showed he was elated.
A good P100 million or more has been allocated for what is commonly known as Bot50 celebrations. Flags were and are still flying high in the streets of Gaborone and other towns and by early last week preparations were at very advance stages as the nation awaited with bated breath. When Ghana celebrated its golden jubilee of independence, as many as twenty-four or so heads of state and government graced the occasion. Notwithstanding the snubbing of the event of the ‘Africa’s Success Story’ by African leaders, especially from SADC, many Batswana joined in the festivities.
Botswana didn’t start from a favorable economic position. The British colonials who have been protecting the territory, then called Bechuanaland, didn’t do much to transform its economy. They basically did nothing. Part of the reason was that the area was nothing more than a barren desert with nothing to kickstart the economy. Many Batswana men worked as migrant labourers in South African mines, farms and factories. The territory at the time therefore was robbed off able bodied men who could work in starting up sectors of the economy. Calls for independence were started by men who subsequently would be known as opposition leaders. These were influenced by the winds of change in the African continent and elsewhere and believed so much in self determination.
When the country gained independence in 1966 after 1965 elections, priority became, as it had to be, socio-economic development. Historians document the hardships of the 1960s including poverty, unemployment, diseases and drought which killed many cattle as well as lack of adequate access to education, health, sanitation and other essential services.
Fortuitously, diamonds, copper and nickel, coal and other minerals were discovered in recoverable quantities. The transformation of the economy can be attributed to the discovery of minerals, primarily diamonds. From a poor country in 1966, Botswana is now ranked as an upper-middle income economy. It is unthinkable what else other than building schools, hospitals, roads transport and communication network etcetera the government could have done. There’s nowhere in the world whether USA or Great Britain where the state hasn’t played a developmental role and or socio-economic transformation in the formative years. It is therefore not surprising that the state became important in the transformation, especially that there was no private sector of FDI to rely on. The song “we found nothing and did everything you see” by the ruling party is an exaggeration of achievements, there’s nothing out of the ordinary which it has done. The case of one-eyed man being a king in the land of the blind shouldn’t obscure the people’s thinking of what could have been archived over and above what we have. What could be complicated about selling a diamond belonging to Batswana and building them a school or hospital?
Like many African countries, Botswana inherited a template democratic Constitution effectively written by colonialists. When many African countries abandoned democratic constitutions in favour of undemocratic alternatives such as military dictatorships, one party states and other dreadful systems, Botswana remained as the only one which maintained liberal multi-party democratic system.
This uniqueness of not postponing elections and political stability or absence of armed conflict, attracted laudatory labels such ‘An African Miracle’, ‘Exceptional’, ‘Sshining example of democracy’ and many others. It wasn’t for long that these labels were challenged by scholars and practitioners alike who labeled the country as a ‘de facto one party state’, ‘authoritarian liberalism’, “...a case of mistaken identity”. The argument was that compared to the rest of Africa Botswana was relatively democratic but more profound yardsticks of democracy prove that the country is undemocratic. Instead of democratising further to the point of consolidation, Botswana regressed instead, especially under the current President. It still has its template Constitution with minor modifications. New entrants such as South Africa and Namibia have overtaken it in many aspects. Mauritius, it’s near-peer is far ahead with relatively little resources. Other countries which had both democratic and economic deficit relapses are also now far ahead.
The country now faces worst forms of unemployment and underemployment, poverty, wealth and income inequalities and inadequate access to services. Education and health are in crisis. Corruption is endemic. This is not supposed to be a story of a country endowed with so much resources and independent for 50-years. There is nothing extraordinary about what Botswana has in terms of its economy and political system anymore. There’s been failure to diversify the economy away from mining for job creation and more opportunities.
There has been a deliberate plan to sideline the opposition in the Bot50 celebrations. It has been a ruling party affair, even usurping the national museum for campaign. The preparations have been a big campaign for the ruling party and has been their affair, alone. They seized every moment to remind all and sundry about what the ruling party has done in the past 50-years. Most MPs from the opposition, if lucky, got to thank everybody at the end of Independence related ceremonies such a the roving torch ceremonies. That is why opposition activists and leaders were not keen to join and celebrate. They are also wondering why after 50-years the country with so much potential is still where it is. As the country celebrates its golden jubilee, the big question should be about the next 50-years and how they’ll look like.