VP should be civil in debates

Editor | Thursday December 9, 2010 00:00

When he was Minister of Foreign Affairs, he made an imprint in international diplomacy. At one stage, he was the face of Botswana in global fora. As one of the longest serving foreign ministers in Africa, his face started to represent the very essence of the continent's diplomacy on the international stage. He was always on top of issues. He was very articulate and self-confident. At some stage, he was a very successful cabinet minister.

And then he was drafted to the vice-presidency. We do acknowledge that every professional in our government deserves to move to a position of more influence if he/she acquits himself well. This is natural professional growth. We therefore understand the attractiveness that this new area of responsibility would have posed to Rre Merafhe. It was a vote of confidence in him in 2008 when the then new President Ian Khama made him his deputy. However, we have often wondered whether this was a good move for the man who has come be affectionately known as 'the General'. Merafhe has always seemed ill at ease in his new position especially in the rough and tumble of public address and debate that are so central to the position of vice-president. He does not seem to display the same maturity and acceptance of the tenets of political life as he used to. Nowadays, he seems to find the work of points and rebuttals not just tedious but annoying. We note that he is the same man who, last year, at the height of the spate of extra-judicial killings said that a shooting one or two would not do damage to the good reputation of this country. And therein lies the flaws with the new Merafhe.

The Merafhe of old who found the challenge of debate tentalising and exciting is no more. Instead we find him to be aloof, arrogant and even disdainful of government critics. Often he comes across as insensitive. He is currently riding a wave of public outcry again after he reportedly said something viewed to be very insensitive to people living with HIV. This week in Parliament, the new Merafhe was once again on show. He was clearly upset when he rose to react to the final submissions of the opposition and other MPs on the State of the Nation Address by Khama. Pointing at the other side of the aisle, he addressed his colleagues in the opposition with seeming anger.

We wonder what happened to the Merafhe of old. He seemed to take the criticism from the opposition with anger.

He could not sift through the message from the muddle of messengers. The new Merafhe is not just a liability to the ruling party. He is also a blemish on the legacy left by the Merafhe of old.

                                                                 Today's thought

 'The integrity of this country cannot be determined by one or two killings. Our image is not that fragile.' -

                                                               Mompati Merafhe