Is populism surging into Botswana politics?
Friday, August 16, 2019
The likes of India’s Narendra Modi, Indonesia’s Joko Widodo, the Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte, US’ Donald Trump, Brazil’s Bolsonaro and now the UK’s Boris Johnson. How can responsible African leaders take the momentum out of populists’ sails?
The rise of populism has been the subject of countless debates and understandably so: populists’ misguided policies have had severely adverse political and economic consequences. Now, the risks associated with populism are approaching Botswana’s shores.
It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...