Minister Makgatho wooing the voting masses at a public rally said cockily: “I am the Minister of Health. Vote for BDP if you want a hospital in your area. If you want us to sit at a table and have a conversation about the hospital I can arrange transport to take you to Gaborone. But do you think I would do the same if you were from the opposition? How can I provide transport to my opponent? How can you have a hospital in your area if you vote the opposition?” Assistant Minister Botlogile Tshireletso, slightly abashed expressed the same attitude in a less inelegant, combative, go-to-hell language of her colleague. Nonetheless the message was one. The same sentiments were expressed: subtly and ladylike manner, she said, ”Our plan is to bring developments with the help of Lebotso (the council candidate in whose corner the two were standing). This man would not just go to Council to warm the seat like the area MP Nthaile (opposition UDC MP). I have been working hand in hand with him , together with Minister Tsogwane who is present here, will help him as the two Ministers who oversee councils.” The two Ministers deserve to be investigated locked-up in police cells, remanded in custody for prosecution en route to a life behind bars, for violating their oath of office! Tsogwane to should account on being an accessory to the crime. In some societies they could be lynched. The two swore allegiance to the Botswana constitution on becoming MPs. They ought to appreciate that the constitution forbids all forms of discrimination. Moreover Botswana has signed the Rome Statutes to send whoever commits ‘crimes against humanity’ against fellow-citizens, to the ICC, which they do (by intimidating opposition voters). My impression has been that their Domkrag holds the ICC in the highest esteem; Botswana is the lone voice defying the AU colleagues on its latest somersault against continued membership of the ICC. Could it be that they fail to realise that coercion of Batswana to vote for BDP in elections and bye-elections is integral and embryonic in the process of ‘crimes against humanity?’ The common denominator is to massacre or make zombies of people!
We expect Ministers to be champion models of multiparty democracy, not agents of Hitlerism. How dare they forget words of wisdom by former President Sir Ketumile Masire at the 1983 BDP ‘seminar on democracy,’ in Gaborone? Let’s remind them of the essence of multiparty democracy as enunciated by none other than President Masire one of their most renowned leaders. Perhaps in 1983 they weren’t yet members of the BDP, but they should be reading party documents to familiarise themselves with party ideology. However, ignorance of party ideology on the political stage isn’t an excuse for decent politics just as much as ignorance of the law isn’t, in a court of law! Nor can it mitigate the enormity of the callous crime by political upstarts. One marvels how the dickens they managed to ensconce themselves in the cabinet splendour and coziness! Former President Sir Ketumile Masire pleaded with participants at the 1983 seminar: “Please, please, do not issue threats to voters, let them exercise their right to vote freely as free people. If we in this country are denied freedom of choice between parties, then any other freedom will be meaningless. This is because the freedom to exercise a free vote is basic to the concept of self-determination and sovereignty. As government, we have the duty to protect the rights of citizens against infringement by a foreigner or a fellow citizen.” Threats, cajolery, bribery, intimidation are unacceptable in multiparty democracy. Please!The constitution on the other hand abhors discrimination in any form. State Ministers ought to know, unless they are fong kong Ministers smuggled through the backdoor by a president who was himself smuggled through the same door, thus unfamiliar with the democratic and constitutional process.
