Confused but more scared

GAONE ABOTSENG | Friday June 7, 2013 00:00

It all started in the 1999 General Election when Festus Mogae was running for presidency. I was only eight-years-old then and did not really understand why my mother was making such a big deal about the upcoming elections.

This was however up until one day when she took me to a political rally hosted by the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) where one of my favourite political figures was the key speaker, Paul Rantao. I am not going to dwell much on what he said and did not say, but one thing that really got my attention was when he delivered his passionate speech on why Festus Mogae should not be our next president. I cannot remember word for word what he said, but the way he spoke so keenly and with disgust towards Festus Mogae was really amusing to say the least. He convinced me that Mogae and his associates, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), were the enemy and under no circumstances were they to be trusted. I bought his story and did not even bother to hear what Mogae's side of the story was, I just knew that he was an evil villain who was not to be trusted.

I stayed all night on that Election Day waiting for the radio stations to announce who our next president would be, you can only imagine how scared I was, hoping and praying that it would not be Mogae. To my shock and disbelief it was indeed him. This was one of the scariest times of my life. I could not believe how such a man was elected into power. I sat and questioned my eight-year-old mind, what is the next step; what will this man do to this wonderful country; is this the end of Botswana as we know it. I was scared. As days went by and years flew by I managed to grasp the whole concept of politics, I finally understood why Batswana elected Mogae to the Presidency and why they did not pay much attention to what Rantao said. Under Mogae, Botswana as a country flourished and shone brighter than its diamonds. Under Mogae, Botswana was the 'Switzerland of Africa.'

Regardless of our small population Botswana was an investment hub, that saw many businesses being established in our very own soil and employing hundreds of Batswana. Under Mogae, HIV/AIDS was starting to lose the battle, with reduced levels of stigmatisation and discrimination. Under Festus Mogae, infrastructure was being erected, with Botswana's economic stability making headlines in international newspapers and financial magazines. Under Festus Mogae, Gaborone was labelled the fastest growing city in the world. Batswana were at peace with themselves; Batswana had little to worry about; Batswana were happy but most importantly Batswana were not scared.

It saddens me to say this but this is now all but memories, the days of Botswana being a force to reckon with seemsto be a thing of the past. Batswana being happy and not scared is all a thing of the past now. We are filled with unanswered questions, with the few that are being answered leading to confusion. Botswana has lost its international standing, it has lost many of the so-called 'big countries' admiration and has become just an 'African state.' A state where poverty is on the rise; a state where the general workforce is not satisfied, either with their basic pay or their working standards. We are now a 'dark' state (literally) with numerous power cuts.

Access to such important utilities as clean and free flowing water is limited. Our democracy is questionable, we are failing to meet international standards in many sectors, failing to grow our once 'stable economy.' One would say that the ruling party, Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has lost its touch; that it is re-writing all the good it has done for the country in its years of being in charge and to a significant extent this is very true. The BDP is now pushing Botswana into its grave, it is failing to come up with ideas that will drive Botswana forward, most of its policies worked very well in earlier times but are failing to work in the modern era. The student body (which is the pillar and backbone of this country) is not even close to acquiring an education of the highest form. 

Developments have hit a snail's pace, with simple yet important infrastructure failing to be established and it seems the level of corruption in the country is at an all time high. It is now safe to say that just like that 1998 period I and a lot of Batswana (mostly the youth) are scared. We are questioning and wondering what is going on here, this is not the Botswana we know and love.

One would think that in such a crisis, the opposition parties in the country would come to the rescue that they would give us an alternative and better answer than the ruling party but unfortunately they are more lost than we the ordinary citizens. How can we elect parties that are failing to show us the way forward; how can we elect members that are busy rubbing in our faces what the BDP is doing wrong but failing miserably to give us a solution; parties that are power-hungry and have more internal fights on who should lead the party in the next general elections; with members that constantly bad-mouth one another on public platforms.

We are confused but more scared; the main question is what should we do as a nation to get this country running again.