The dangers of toxic politics of ethnicity
Correspondent | Monday December 12, 2022 06:00
The sentiments by Professor Nnoli are true as it is evident that all the sub regions of the African continent are submerged in various forms of violent conflict. The most unfortunate thing about such conflicts (current and in the past) is that they have really had an adverse impact on the socio-economic and political stability of many states.
Botswana, on the other hand, is one of the few countries in the continent that have never experienced any form of violent conflict since independence. In addition, the country has never gone through the horrors of the liberation struggle that other countries such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and others had to endure before attaining their independence.
However, this does not absolve Botswana from the potentialities of a violent conflict. It must, however, be noted that political developments in Botswana since 2018 are slowly showing a growing political divide that is anchored on ethnicity and regionalism.
This divide has been sharpened by the fall out between the current president Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, a native of Moshupa, a village geographically located in the southern part of Botswana and the former president Lt General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, a Ngwato royal from Serowe located in the central part of Botswana.
The fallout between the two led to the formation of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) by many disgruntled loyalists of the former president majority of whom are either from the Central District and the northern part of Botswana.
The fallout has ignited fierce debates as well as inflammatory rhetoric from both Masisi loyalists and Khama loyalists heavily laced with ethnic and regional connotations. A certain section of Masisi loyalists views their counterparts from the Khama group as self-seeking tribalists who are hell-bent on maintaining the Ngwato hegemony and failing to accept the fact that the presidency is now under a southerner.
On the other hand some sections of the Khama loyalists view his self-imposed exile as form of a political harassment from a southerner president who is hell-bent on “humiliating” the Bangwato.
The recent developments which saw heavily armed members of the security forces barring Bangwato tribesmen loyal to Khama from accessing the main Kgotla to hold a meeting as well as an order instructing Regent Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane to vacate the official royal residence after being “retired”, have crystalised strong suspicions that the government has embarked in an all-out mission to humiliate not only the Bangwato but their royals as well. This is in addition to the arrests and detention of the brothers to the former president by the members of the intelligence agency.
The recent utterances by one Ngwato old woman at a gathering which went viral on social media platforms that she suspects that the first president of Botswana, Sir Seretse Khama might have died due to poisoning by some southerners is a good example of how people can stoke ethnic sentiments in a reckless manner that has the potential to cause serious polarisation of the nation along ethnic lines.
On the other hand, the political immaturity by the government of President Masisi in dealing with these political differences as well as the sheer recklessness that has come to define the intelligence agency in dealing with Khama, his loyalists and family is another potential catalyst to the growing ethnic and regional divide that has the potential to destabilise the whole country.
It is therefore within this context that Botswana must learn some lessons from other regions of Africa where political differences were ethicised and regionalised to levels where they ended up causing violent conflicts that have caused untold sufferings to millions of people. Ethnicisation of politics refers to a situation in which politicians and their followers tend to mobilise support based on an appeal to ethnic identity.
This ethnicisation of politics then becomes a problem when rival groups come to see each other as competitors for power and when members believe that they will be excluded from the benefits of state assistance and protection if “one of their own” is not in power.
The reason is that such politics often promotes inter-ethnic tension and violence, leading many to argue that ethnic politics in Botswana needs to be eradicated or managed through tailored institutional arrangements.
This means that Botswana’s institutional arrangements have to be made effective to avoid situations where people may manipulate political differences through sdvantage in which ethnicity becomes deeply embedded with a “we them” state of affairs where membership of an ethnic group supersedes that of a nation and political differences are not solved through lawful means.
This is something Botswana must avoid at all costs because lessons show that sadly, Africa is a continent that has been continually plagued by the effects of ethnic conflict (civil war, genocide) that emanated from low level political differences that could have been solved via a peaceful dialogue. From the conflict between the southern Igbo and the northern Hausa in the Biafra War (Nigeria) to the ethnic cleansings in Darfur and Rwanda, Botswana must learn that some sub regions of Africa has suffered tremendously and continues to suffer as a result of ethnic discord. Botswana, which has enjoyed uninterrupted peace since independence despite its institutional and constitutional flaws, cannot afford to have her party politic polluted by ethnic chauvinism.
This is because ethnic chauvinism has become one of the major qualms confronting the democratisation process in many parts of Africa to the extent that ethnic differences and resultant conflicts are one of the dominant factors responsible for most of the inefficiencies and low productivity as well as weak state system in Africa.
As ethnicisation of politics have become so entrenched in many parts of the continent, ethnic sentiments are more often used to replace merit and skills thus stifling efficiency and productivity but most importantly creating polarity that may prove too difficult to reverse in the long-term.
Batswana must resist being manipulated by politicians (both from the ruling and opposition parties) who are hell-bent on using ethnicity to sow seeds of discords. Batswana must instead stick to their entrenched belief that peace is a fundamental principle of a democratic culture and that there is a need to advance peaceful co-existence to enhance productive, meaningful lives and a sustainable society where dialogue is a key to solving political differences.