After his remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of A3 road network early this week were criticised, President Mokgweetsi Masisi says he has no regrets.
In his remarks at a ceremony held in Mathangwane village, Masisi appeared to imply that the Minister of Education and Skills Development Dr Douglas Letsholathebe, as well as the Minister of Health and Wellness Edwin Dikoloti have failed to deal with the rot in their respective ministries.
“I had to transfer Minister Molale to the Ministry of Transport to deal with the rot there. The next ministry I target is the Ministry of Health, alongside the Ministry of Education," Masisi said in a statement which some critics interpreted as a veiled attack towards Dikoloti and Letsholathebe.
In his addresses, Masisi added that he will not hesitate to make leadership changes at the two ministries after the 2024 general election. The President stated that he is cautious about cracking the whip now (at the two ministries), because he does not want to unsettle his reelection bid.
Few days later Masisi during an interactive Breakfast Session with Botswana Creatives said what he said in Mathangwane shouldn’t be taken out of context but insisted that he is determined to weed out the rot. “Fews days before I was in Mathangwane and there was a segment of what I said which ended up trending and scaring people. Do you know about the ones I said I will dismantle? You know them right? I was talking about education and health,” Masisi further indicated his target ministries.
Masisi told creatives that he is talking about those who are corrupt and that if he doesn’t remove the rot, he would be the one who will suffer. He urged people to let him fix this and stop attacking him. “Also you have hired me to loosen up where it is tightened. Yes it is true that I want pass though this trap. It is not a secret, in order for me to overcome this trap I have to pass through it. So I have vowed to focus in my last lap assuming we will win, on educatiom,” President Mokgweetsi Masisi highlighted.
Political analyst and lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at University of Botswana (UB), Mokaloba Mokaloba opined that although ambiguous, Masisi’s remarks were not well thought given the fact that as the President he is the principal accounting officer of all government activities or affairs.
“It’s the silly season. You never know how to interpret the words of a politician especially that of a ruling, but to go on a public platform and attack a minister or ministry that you as the head of state, you are at the helm of, I do not think that makes sense,” he said. Mokaloba added that although imprecise and subject to various interpretations, the President’s remarks in Mathangwane can be viewed as a personal attack on Letsholathebe and Dikoloti.
“I am not very sure about his relationship with Letsholathebe, but it has been out in the open that the President is a big admirer of one Peggy Serame who is also viewed as a potential VP and challenged Dikoloti at the ruling party primaries. This makes it somewhat controversial for the President to go out and attack Dikoloti’s ministry,” Mokaloba said. Last month, Serame who is also the minister of finance lost the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) parliamentary primaries to Dikoloti. The primaries were to book candidacy for the 2024 general elections. Serame is however protesting the results and the BDP is expected to issue a verdict soon. According to Mokaloba, shortcomings at the ministry of health and education are historic and cannot entirely be blamed on Dikoloti and Letsholathebe, if at all there are those who interpreted Masisi’s speech to imply that the two ministers have failed. “For example, even before the Covid era there was shortage of medicine in hospitals. To me the attacks seem personal,” he said. Another political commentator Adam Mfundisi, who is also lecturer at UB in the department of Public Administration and Management, said that the remarks by Masisi are not something new. He explained that the President likes to go out of his script to touch on irrelevant issues to the matter under the radar.
He went on to say that the trend is very worrying. To him, it was unnecessary for Masisi to make such remarks in public more so in an event that did not relate to the ministry of education or that of health. “A leader must measure his words and be considerate to others, particularly subordinates who cannot respond kindly to the attacks against them. The gravest danger of the President's attacks on ministers or ministries in his government in a public forum is that it guides the behaviour and expectations of others. Eventually, this shapes the culture of government with no teamwork and integrity,” he said. Mfundisi acknowledged that what motivated the President to engage in vitriolic attacks on ministers of education and health or their ministries is subject of debate and interpretations. “I think the whole government is not doing well. The ministry of finance, for example, presided over the looting of state coffers through reckless and impulsive spending. Because, the minister of finance is a favourite of the supreme leader, she is not accused of incompetence and complicit in the misuse of state resources.” Furthermore, Mfundisi elucidated that Masisi’s remarks are of someone who avoids accountability by blaming others for what he should be accounting for. He explained that Masisi as the president is accountable for all government accomplishments or failures, whether they involve commissions, omissions, acts, or misconduct. “Shirking this responsibility demonstrates a neglect of duty by the President, who has sworn an oath to uphold and protect the constitution of Botswana.”
The Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Emma Peloetletse told Mmegi that Masisi’s remarks in Mathangwane were incorrectly interpreted. She explained that the President was merely addressing issues related to general poor service delivery in the public service and emphasising the need for intervention, without necessarily targeting specific individuals. “The President singled out minister Molale, not to undermine other ministers or ministries, but to commend his efforts in addressing project delays and cost escalations which were rampant prior to his appointment,” she said. The PSP highlighted that the government has lined up several initiatives such as in-service training, retooling and capacity building, to improve service delivery in the public service, as well to help ease the implementation of the reset agenda. Peloetletse further told Mmegi that where justifiable government will get rid of officials who are seen to be underperforming.