The unfolding chaos characterising the privatisation of national enterprises, specifically Air Botswana and other public bodies such as Botswana Telecommunication Corporation and the Botswana Power Corporation, are neither attributable to lack of administrative prowess on those charged with the whole process of privatisation, nor are they a result of lack of a specific comprehensive statutory framework upon which privatisation is implemented, as some argue. Far from that. The current mess of privatisation epitomises a much deeper problem of lack of political independence that characterises neo-liberalist governments. Globalisation, a vehicle of neo-colonialism, has become an indispensable tool upon which the capitalist west seeks to maintain economic and political power on third world nations. The purported independence of Africa was merely an appeasement strategy. Independence was generally undermined by the assumption of power in African states by a political leadership that leaned towards neo-liberalism, a foreign ideology of capitalism that has only succeeded in exacerbating poverty, moral decay and the collapse of the social structure in African societies. In Botswana, the Botswana Democratic Party has become a habitat and a puppet of powerful multi-national corporations that finds their route into Botswana under the so-called Foreign Direct Investment. The ruling party is acting as a vanguard for westernisation of Botswana.
In this short essay, I seek to argue that Botswana is increasingly turning into a tamed paper tiger because of the ruling party's policy of unregulated free market. Through its policy of opening markets, the Botswana Democratic Party has dismally failed to guard against the undermining of our political, social and economic systems. The BDP, in exchange for electoral sponsorships and financial rewards for its elitist leaders, has handed over the mandate to rule to foreign corporations run solely for generation of profits.
Consequently, merciless, unethical and corrupt multi-national corporations that have forged alliances with the few powerful local corporate and political elites are administering Botswana. It is trite to observe that de facto, Batswana, as many other African societies, have lost control over the running of their country. It is common cause that through its existence, the BDP has been a pillar of western imperialism in a region run by socialist oriented governments. The ruling party is the heart and soul of Americanism and Europeanism in Southern Africa. Hence, the party is infested and infected with ruthless capitalists whose ultimate priority is the control of the country's political and economic systems. The recent outbursts of contempt on our Parliament by the Czypionka character signal an end of our mythological political independence. Foreigners are calling the shorts. The occasional handouts in the name of goodwill extended to the under-privileged from some of these companies and politicians are mere smokescreens to entice the locals and ensure continued electoral victory for the ruling party.
Our citizenry is continuously subjected to brain-washing songs of economic prosperity and good governance, credentials bestowed on the local elitist leadership by capitalist International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, Transparency International and other western-led organisations which are clueless as to what the people on the ground need. It is a pathological distortion of the truth to argue that Botswana has been blessed with a wise, corrupt free and accountable leadership.
If that were the case, the disparities between the rich and the poor, the secretive nature of our government in relation to accessing information in public institutions and the failure to disclose assets by our leaders would not be the case. Recently, the member of parliament for Mahalapye East, Botlogile Tshireletso was quoted in the media saying that she intends to buy a chunk of land in Mmaphashalala to take advantage of the opening of Mmamabula power plant. Clearly, the honourable parliamentarian will be privileged enough to have inside information as to what the power plant will need. Hence, by virtue of her position, she is in a better position to compete against ordinary Batswana.
Our citizens are systematically conditioned to accept that God created them to be poor, and those who are rich or well off are a result of their own hardwork. The citizens are conditioned to point fingers at their own inadequacies. Vision 2016 is abused and presented as some sort of penicillin to societal problems. It may be true that citizens must take responsibility for their own lives, but similarly the government bears the ultimate burden of empowering citizens. The introduction of cost-recovery measures simultaneously with the introduction of VAT and Pula devaluation hard-hit the lower classes of our society, and to date there exist no proof that the majority of the population has benefited. These measures were imposed on our docile government by foreign corporate elites in conjunction with the BDP.
I feel sympathetic to those patriotic individuals who love their country so much that they spend a lot of their time arguing for formulations of legal frameworks to safeguard citizen interests in the unfolding wave of privatisation. These individuals, some within the BDP itself, mostly in the over-zealous BCP, are in what a junior secondary school debater can only term as swimming in a poll (pool) of confusion. Of particular interest is the sudden obsession and myopic trust in the legal system by the Botswana Congress Party activists.
Throughout the world political systems, the legal system has failed dismally to safeguard the interests of the poor. It has succeeded only in the protection of the interests of the minority economic elitist tendencies through unbalanced allocation of power. Currently, our President wields enormous powers as per the constitution and other laws. In this unbalanced allocation of political powers, can any one expect any victory for the masses in our legal system? The people have no power over the branches of government. Our Parliament itself is a debating club, a chatter room with no powers.
Kopano Frazer
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