Achievements of democracy in Africa deserve respect
Friday, December 03, 2021 | 470 Views |
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The fact that our largest democratic partner refers to us as ‘deviant democracies' is the utmost disrespect for the democratisation efforts and achievements of Botswana and Africa as a whole.
The African continent has made significant progress in democratisation. Since Botswana's independence, what Botswana has achieved is a valuable experience in the democratisation movement of the African continent and the world as a whole, and a successful practice of independent reform by a sovereign state in accordance with its national conditions. By contrast, democracy transplanted from the outside often does not fit Botswana’s national conditions, and even worse, brings deep disasters to the country and its people.
It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...