There has never been a point in the history of this country when our government looked so inept and the condition of our people so bleak. Even the most stubborn supporters of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government have had to acknowledge that we are in a fine mess. We cannot even get ourselves water, and every now and then Batswana have to spend a night without water and in darkness even in the most urban and developed of our neighbourhoods. However, we are inclined to think that perhaps our situation is even worse than we are able to fathom. There is creeping authoritarianism laced with a bit of moralistic vengeance against freewill. There is an attack on freedom, whether the freedom to debate and demonstrate at our university campuses, or the freedom to sit back and share a drink with friends on our balconies, or the freedom to walk around our neighbourhoods. Everything - from the curtailing of civil liberties to the attack on workers' rights to unionise - points to a state that is moving towards dictatorship. But every Motswana has been aware of this and cowed as Batswana are under this yoke, they have been muttering their own disapprovals in the combis and coffee shops.
Sadly something even more insidious is developing. We are slowly degenerating into not just a police state but something even more dangerous, something right out of George Orwell's Animal Farm fable. A few weeks back a man was debating the state of our nation with another citizen while shopping. He happened to proclaim his disapproval of the President's performance. Before long he was abducted by the security agents and driven to some unknown location where agents spent hours threatening him and promising him physical violence. The poor man is back on the streets alive but it shows you how far we have come from the country we founded in 1966. Batswana should pause and think carefully about whether this is the type of country we want for our children and ourselves. We think not. It is about time we changed course or perish.
