The move was overdue but that is not the issue, really. What is important, is that government listened to concerns expressed by many Batswana, introspected on its earlier decision, and took a corrective step. It is not in every issue that government will agree with the population and with social or other commentators. Government, as some have said, has the benefit of experts who inform its decisions and approaches in every issue. Let us remember though that many things still go wrong in government. Only a fool will sleep across the rail line just because a Botswana Railways engineer has assured them that the train will fly over them. It is purely commonsensical. To hear party apologists insulting people for expressing their opinions on the closure of schools just conveyed the deplorable state of our politics. In urgent matters of national security, there is no BDP nor UDC; no protestant nor catholic. We are all citizens, bound together by a common need to protect our children and our nation as a whole. I am convinced, more than ever, that political education should be taught in primary schools, somewhere around standard four. It must begin with a basic subject: COUNTRY FIRST; PARTY SECOND. I believe we need a national creed we can recite at every gathering and by which we can all swear loyalty to country. They have it in the United States. Perhaps that is why they have such patriotic fervor.
And then there are those who are more than eager to profit from the calamity. There is of course, no problem with business servicing the market niches created or expanded by the corona epidemic. No one says that business should be giving sanitizers for free. The military industrial complex sell arms at a time of war and funeral parlous sell caskets to mourners at times of tragedy. But there is no denying that capitalism is a system inherently devoid of humanity, morality and ethics. It is based of greed and corruption. It cannot self-regulate and thrives on exploitation of the poor. It is for government to ensure that its effects are mitigated. Government must ship in necessary supplies to sell or provide free to the people just as it does with condoms. Where necessary, government may even do price control. The Shylocks of this world, should not be allowed to hold the nation at ransom. Government needs to have a meeting with business stakeholders on this issue.
