"There is a moral universe. Right and wrong matter," Archbishop Desmond Tutu once remarked. One wishes to bring this dictum into context, now more than ever before. "The line separating good and evil passes, not through states, not between political parties either, but right through every human heart," Alexander Solzhenitsyn threw in his mind.
The point is that ethics do matter, especially among leaders. Reports of public officials engaged in unethical conduct have lately proliferated, raising questions about the seriousness with which we Batswana view ethics in our politics. Ethics is often brushed aside as belonging to the moral issues that should remain confidential. This is self-deception and far from the truth. The ethics of public officials are a cause for scrutiny because they no longer reside in their private spheres. This includes both bureaucrats and politicians, regardless of political party affiliation. Paul Lungu, while facilitating a workshop for public officials recently, made it clear that "leaders need to lead above the line, leading with fundamental principles of humanity and ethics". In the developed world, leaders resign or are heckled into resignation for being unethical or outraging public morals. Moreover, rules are steadfast and help contain such people. "Limits are the only way to stop or minimize the activity that undercuts the independence of governmental officials such as campaign contributions, gifts and honoraria. The likelihood of unethical behaviour increases with the size of contributions, gifts and honoraria," a statement from the Better Government Association, an ethics watchdog in the United States of America (US), reads. This points to the fact that we need strong laws that will regulate the exchange of gifts, especially when it involves public officials. It is only human and fair to ask if giving hampers to a Minister of Health during a campaign period by a pharmaceutical company would not be viewed as corruption as the 'donor's' intention is to win special treatment in the award of contracts or tenders. Is that not what is happening in Africa, southern Africa and most importantly in motherland Botswana?
