Is the shining star, that is Botswana fading?

LAWRENCE OOKEDITSE | Friday February 5, 2010 00:00

Back then, I vehemently argued that there has to be a voice of reason in a region consumed by madness. He maintained that 'that is the attitude one has come to expect from Batswana primarily because there are certain historical discomforts that they have not quite experienced as yet', also that since we are the leading democracy in the region we indeed 'to some extent have the moral authority to question others, though not to appear overtly critical especially in public'.

He argued further that once we start experiencing our share of troubles, the first frontiers will not be overseas but neighboring countries within the region. A proud patriot, and yes patriotism at times amounts to idle stubbornness, I maintained that the region has to get its act together to be taken seriously. His warning though was clear; some day you will fall from that high moral authority pinnacle.

Remember the, former Zimbabwe government minister- now an independent legislator - Jonathan Moyo who hurled insults at Botswana that are best avoided? Part of his outburst was that 'the Botswana government apparently has a 'monkey-see, monkey-do' approach, I suppose because what Uncle Sam does Uncle Tom follows. In the end, Botswana will pay a heavy regional price for its shocking treachery including its xenophobic treatment of Zimbabweans in general' and added, 'Somebody should tell the reckless ruling elite in Botswana not to be too excited about selling the Kalahari desert, which makes up most of their sorry country to the Yankees, who have turned it into a hopeless military base.' Not entirely a statement of fact but hugely a perception it is, but again, in politics perceptions matter, at times even more than facts actually do.

Then came the warrant of arrest for Omar al Bashir of Sudan. With characteristic magnanimity, Botswana did the principled thing; seek for the enforcement of such a warrant given the Sudanese regime's atrocities. Yet again, a number of African countries were disappointed it appears with the stand Botswana adopted. I supported it, and so did many locals believing that such concepts as the rule of law, ethics, accountability and principled leadership existed, and has actually existed within our own country to the highest of standards. A statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry read, 'The people of Africa and Sudan in particular have been victims of these crimes. Botswana strongly holds the view that the people of Africa, including the people of Sudan, deserve to be protected from the perpetrators of such crimes. This is why a majority of African countries, numbering 30 are State Parties to the Rome Statute'.

Meanwhile Vice President Lt Gen. Mompati Merafhe said that Botswana's foreign policy on quiet diplomacy has not changed but situations dictate what should be done while also expressing confidence that in publicly criticising other countries Botswana will not create enemies. I hope his word holds and that when our time comes they will not tell us of how we used to play saints.

But such was the zeal and zest, earned we all believed and I still wish to believe, with which we criticised others. Meanwhile, the world did not realise that Africa's 'special one' was actually a place where a corporate bully, as some term multinational corporations, was sponsoring a ruling party consistent with its own profiteering interests, while also 'helping' the president of the republic in matters that are private. Ethics, thrown out through the back door, the citizen deceived -through a strong veil of secrecy and the opposition political parties out rightly competing in an unfair environment. It was not uncommon then for the BDP politicians to brag about their own donors every time talk of funding political parties cropped up. Former President Ketumile Masire has said it himself that he put up some collateral and was helped only with a farm manager and that all talk about being bought out of the presidency because he was a liability was not true. The merit of the last bit seems not so important but one respects that he came out clean on it. Still, being the well versed statesman that he is, the former President had due reason to believe what he was entering into were deals that were not exactly acceptable-in hindsight he acknowledges he shouldn't have accepted the offers. How about the support his party was receiving? Outright questionable relationship it was.

A number of major human rights groups have charged that some multinational corporations from rich nations have been profiting from the war and have developed 'elite networks' of key political, military, and business elites to plunder Africa's natural resources. Unwittingly, African leaders in some cases, and the evidence that is cropping up points to our past leaders, as at times being a little naive to accept gifts and acts of kindness from such companies. Little do they realise that these companies do not give out of kindness, even their so-called corporate social responsibility is but the capitalist racketeer's plot to squeeze as much from the host country as possible while you think they are doing you favors.

The actual fact being that what they term social corporate responsibility is what would have been still due to you anyway, presented in a manner that suggests you are being helped out of their own magnanimity-thieves most of them are and you watch out for them. They never give without asking for a favor. If they give it is to blur your judgment and to unwittingly 'buy' you. Before you know it you are held at ransom, and you have sold out the soul of your nation. It is a sad existence, one which African leaders, Batswana included, need to wake up to. You tell me, had Botswana negotiated a deal entitling her to just 75 percent of the revenue from her diamonds, given all the good just 50 percent has done, would we not be at a development stage much higher?

It is my outmost hope that the reason why in the past two elections De Beers did not sponsor the BDP is because President Khama, having denounced corrupt practices, refused to be involved with their corporate gangster-like behavior. At least, then, one would believe he stood up to one of the many companies that easily brings countries untold miseries, making brother kill brother while they loot resources then airlift their staff and machinery to setup shop elsewhere to exploit. Lord Aikins Adusei, an anti-corruption activist and author of 'Multinational Corporations: The new colonisers of Africa' argues that giant multinational corporations are 'implicated in a number of cases for corrupting African leaders and stealing trillions of dollars worth of resources. Global Financial Integrity says that '$900 billion is secreted each year from underdeveloped economies, with an estimated $11.5 trillion currently stashed in havens. More than one quarter of these hubs belong to the UK, while Switzerland washes one-third of global capital flight.' Of this $900 billion, $150 billion comes from Africa'.

Previously, I would read such reports with lots of the indifference that comes with the naivety of believing that we are exceptional anyway, so it does not really affect us directly. It now comes as a rude awakening to realise that Botswana is not really special but was only successful at hiding its shame.

The real deal is that Elf, Shell, BP and their counterparts in Europe and America pay bribes to African leaders to induce them to look the other way when they plunder resources. Ask any Gabonese or Congolese whether they have benefited from the oil and diamonds and the answer will be a big no. What is so tragic is that the people know they have oil, diamonds and see these companies processing them everyday yet do not know where this wealth goes, who buys and where the proceeds go.

Africans must be vigilant, and for the ordinary people, ignorance of governance business is culpable. You know what? I am beginning to wonder about something else. And I hope someone will come out in the open and say exactly what happened. The Australian Professor, Kenneth Good, did lots of inquests on Botswana politics. He focused a lot on government dealings. Then they deported him on grounds of being a threat to national security, and I like most other citizens are in the dark about the reasons, but is it possible that perhaps he knew too much and could easily spill the beans in his many writings? I wish the woods would whisper something on this subject matter. What really happened and are there more corruption stories that could arise as people go into revelation frenzy? I hope we get to know more.

And you know what else? The more scandals that keep cropping up chronicling the regrettable actions of leaders, the more citizens will be tempted to do their best to obtain wealth from public coffers through unscrupulous means. If those with the privilege of power are 'eating' by virtue of the offices they wield, why should I not 'eat' where I am? Such will be the question and before you know it, the star, clouded, faded and tainted as it has become will simply die out. The person, who said all African countries are the same but waiting to go down the same path will feel his words have been vindicated. Is that what you want my beautiful people? Do you want to see your country's star fade with time and have the region tell it to your face that 'you are not special anymore'? I have my doubts and my heart feels heavy with sadness. Tell it to your politicians.