Instead, the relationship between the country’s sixth President and the Fourth Estate seems stuck in a cycle of mistrust and accusations.
The President’s recent comments at the Botswana National Front (BNF) leadership forum were not made in a vacuum. For years, Boko and his party felt written off. To be told week after week that you cannot win, to be ranked third when your own research suggests otherwise, that stings. For a politician who has fought tirelessly against the odds, the memory of those dismissive headlines is a scar that has not yet healed. However, there is a significant difference between being the underdog and being the nation’s leader. As President, Boko is no longer just the voice of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC); he is the First Citizen of Botswana. When he stands before his party and accuses a “purchasable cohort of journalists” of deliberate bias, he is not just letting off steam. He is framing the media as an adversary to his supporters. A free press is not always a comfortable one. Its job is not to print government press releases or to tell leaders only what they want to hear. Its duty is to ask the difficult questions, to hold power to account, and yes, sometimes to get the prediction wrong.
