Masisi must avoid Khama�s pitfalls
Mmegi Editor | Friday February 16, 2018 14:57
He may be leaving a wealthy man than he came into office, but he leaves Batswana wanting in the empty promise of an improved economy.
His highest achievement was hiring more Ipelegeng workers than creating gainful employment for many Batswana, which is nothing to write home about when it comes to wages though the credit lies only in the hiring.
In fact, he is on record saying he will never apologise for his failure to create jobs.
As far as he is concerned, Ipelegeng has changed the economic status of many homesteads in Botswana. This is because his approach to poverty alleviation and unemployment is populist.
This way of doing things took advantage of the education status of the majority of the people, aided in the continuity of poverty of the masses whose ground is fodder for votes for the ruling party.
Khama took advantage of the impoverished.
To show that Khama did not care about sustainable jobs for the educated youth population, his government is, among other ideas, preaching beekeeping. Really? This must be the joke of the century.
Khama’s government does not have the aspirations of the youth at heart.
When historians write his legacy, they will state his contempt for the private media, opposition parties, labour movement and academia.
Thanks to Khama, the private media in Botswana is on sickbed thanks to the advertising ban. Like the economy of the country the media and other industries are confined to the intensive care unit.
Because he does not understand the role of the media in a democracy, he loathes particularly the good job done by the private press. His contempt does not end there.
He is on record saying he is bibliophobic, which does not say much for our declining education standards and school environment. His government’s labour relations with unions worsened by the year.
One of the reasons why the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) failed badly under Khama during the 2014 general election, can be attributed to his hardline stance against the labour unions, especially those affiliated to the Botswana Federation of Public Private Parastatals Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU).
Under his watch, the country is now introducing draconian laws to kill organised labour unionism in the country. Almost all professions in Botswana are now enlisted as essential services.
Thank God that come April 1, 2018 Botswana will have a new leader.
We hope Mokgweetsi Masisi will avoid all of Khama’s pitfalls. This country has been talking diversity for decades and nothing is happening.
Masisi has 18 months to demonstrate that all is not lost. We need radical change in how we do business in Botswana to transform our ailing economy.
Today’s thought
“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
- Steve Jobs