Molale comes to parliament with missiles on the ready
Friday, December 19, 2014
The reader needs to note that this is a man who has literally grown up in Government and understands all the workings of this machinery far much more than a lot of us. If the Government of Botswana has any ancestors, he is certainly one of them.
Truth be told, Molale has been brought to Parliament as a package of reward for steering the government establishment in line with the wishes of the executive. In fact for the length of years he remained as Permanent Secretary to the President, he was the overall supervisor of the entire civil service. Besides that, he also has been a defacto cabinet member and not just playing the advisory role. The decisions that have been made by government and in particular, cabinet have had a given bearing because Molale had a say in it. He gave counsel to the President.
While every citizen, including the Head of State, has the right to voice opinions, the tone and context of the President’s comments were regrettably dismissive and risk chilling free expression in our country. The remarks are not isolated. They form part of a disturbing pattern of public attacks on independent institutions pillars essential to the healthy functioning of our democracy. The Judiciary, the Legislature, and now the media have all...