Traditional values embody governance - Masisi
Enole Ditsheko | Friday October 12, 2018 14:04
He said the best secret was in the traditional values that have sustained the nation from our ancestors, who placed people at the centre of governance.
“People first and resources last. When you have a system that places human beings at the centre of the processes, it becomes easy to ensure prudent management of your natural resources.
“This shared value in our leadership has sustained the nation across the five decades of our independence. Hence, we graduated from being one of the 25 poorest nations in the world to an upper middle-income nation,” he explained. He acknowledged the observation by audience members that Botswana had been blessed in many respects to have distinct marks that have worked in its favour, naturally.
“Luck? Maybe, and I pray that the luck sticks with us for long. But I also want to say it is efficacy. Remember we were ignored by the British because as far as they were concerned, we were a basket case.
“Not only that, even our fellow Africans when strong attitudes of nationalism were sweeping across the motherland, did not make sense of us to pursue independence. But our forefathers were not deterred by such cynicism. Our story is different from the rest because our democracy is anchored on these cultural values of our forebears. “It was critical of them to place people at the centre of decision-making processes. We are a very determined people, and often, we frown upon excesses by leaders,” he stated.
He said that the topic presupposes the management of natural resources that a country has, whereas the most valued resource of any nation is its people.
It was sensible for the architects of modern-day Botswana to embrace the Westminster democracy because the pre-independence Botswana adhered to the values that promoted plural polity, where those who hold dissenting views were counted as ensuring the system of checks and balances.
“Our opposition is not our enemy, but voice of reason where we can move forward to build a nation collectively. The media is another watchdog institution outside government.
“These provide for accountability, which is necessary in good governance, if a nation cares about achieving economic prosperity.
“I reiterate that our people remain the most valuable and sustainable resource since independence and they are placed at the centre. Our diamonds and wildlife, God willing, will always be for development as had been before,” Masisi stated.