At this point in his highly successful career, the good old general should be the voice of reason in our politics. After a long career in the civil service, Merafhe's record is second to none in the republic. He cut his teeth in the armed forces where he rose to the highest levels before transforming himself into a political titan and troubleshooter for the ruling party. With 14 years under his belt, he is one of the longest serving foreign affairs ministers in the world. With such a rich professional history that includes being a diplomat for donkey's years, it would be expected that Merafhe should be more accommodating and temperate in his public pronouncements.
Yet he often seems to rely on his military instinct to deal with issues that do not need the approach of a sergeant major. It would be very refreshing to hear the Vice President draw on his experience as a diplomat by speaking in the measured tone of reason, tones to restrain the more excitable gung-ho BDP crowd that will stop at nothing to catch the eye of the powers that be. But since becoming Vice President in 2008, the policeman-cum-soldier-cum-politician has made some alarming statements that do not belong in a democracy. The other day, it was words to the effect that extra-judicial execution of a few people is good for Botswana. We now hear he has said the BDP's would be a government of idiots to allow reform at the Department of Information and Broadcasting Services (DIBS) in tune with the times. But outside the ruling party, few would argue with calls for re-orientation of the state media to put paid to perceptions that it is the mouthpiece of Domkrag. The media being a very important component of democracy, it is tragic that anyone should still think it stupid to reform state media so that it may function like similar organisations at the BBC and SABC. It ties in with the thinking of some African despot who once quipped that one would be a fool to lose an election he or she has organised. The message here is that the party in power must do everything to frustrate the opposition irrespective of the benefits to the country. Batswana will have a better country the day our politicians, especially MPs of the ruling party, stop trashing progressive ideas simply because they are from the opposition. The fact that the ruling party is so keen to abuse state media for its own ends is so obvious that the likes of Merafhe have no compunction bragging about it. But what goes up must come down, and a day will come when the BDP might need the state media more than the state media needs the BDP. If in doubt, remember Professor Jonathan Moyo of Zimbabwe.
