Media catches ‘bullets’ in an election war zone

Spira Tlhankane | Tuesday July 30, 2024 09:49

RAMOTSWA: At Baitlotli Junior Secondary School (JSS), the media thought they were entering an idyllic place with soft white sandy beaches. But, it was a war zone as they were greeted with a hostile storm of brooms from some brute election officers inside the multi-purpose hall.“Don’t even dare come near, pictures are not allowed here,” they shouted seething with anger even before anyone thought of taking out their smartphones for a picture.

A war zone is a place marked by extreme violence and it surely felt like one when one of the angry men hurled warning shots at the scribes, literally pelting all sorts of arsenals including stones. The journalists thought that by indicating that they serve as the guardians of democratic processes would help. The angry men surged forward and it was like being attacked by a swarm of bees. As the cameras gleamed towards the political hellhounds, some members of the media realised that smartphones were not going to shield them from a horde, which was smashing into them.

Like swords, the brooms and phones were ringing against each other leading to a phone belonging to one Letlhogile Mpuang of The Botswana Gazette crushing on the ground. The phone screen went cellar dark and smelled of death as a fountain of disappointment soaked Mpuang’s face. This is a phone the BDP later replaced and released an apology.

“We deeply regret this incident and understand the gravity of the emotional distress it has caused. As a gesture of our commitment to rectifying this situation, the party has offered to replace his damaged phone,” BDP spokesperson, Kagelelo Banks Kentse, said in a statement. But damage was done especially to the relationship between the BDP as a party and the media practitioners.

The livid men did not stop with Mpuang’s phone, this windstorm of media-intolerant men wanted to claim more phone causalities as they snarled towards a female media colleague, Matlhogonolo Letshelaphala, who was also using her smartphone as an amour. Tiny as she was, one of the men did not care he could crack and splinter her fingers as he forcefully grabbed the phone from her. In the end it was her manicure nails that suffered as the ham-fisted man gripped everything together.

Although she fought back to retrieve her phone, she says the marrow-freezing moment left her bereft and lacking purpose more so that she was not compensated and nor an apology issued to her. The men were pummelling the media defences and targeting anyone with a phone as they also grabbed Tlotlo Kebinakgabo’s hand. “Awa bona gore golo mo ke iPhone (Do you see that this iPhone?),” Kebinakgabo asked. But the phone’s worth did not matter so their aim was to batter their enemy until blood was drizzling on the ground. Kebinakgabo stood his ground and managed to prevent his phone from suffering Mpuang’s fate.

Election disappointment must have been running high in those men as they tried to crack one member of the media’s skull with a broom but fortunately, he managed to repel the attack as the enemy broke the media lines. Stress hormones were released and blood pressure increased as one of them grabbed a stone to end the video recording at one throw.

The man who was recording, Bame Piet, of The Voice, retreated from danger but his phone did not stop recording as the man clasped his arm as if there was a commander shouting, ‘loose’. Fortunately, sensible members of the BDP managed to contain the young man as well as others and called for a ceasefire. It was a bloodless battle but it was the phones that suffered.

Their reasoning was that the BDP primaries were an internal affair yet they forget that free elections are a pillar of every democratic society. Their words tasted vinegary, and we realised that their bitterness comes from a lot of emotional pressure tied up with the elections. They transferred their hopes, passions and expectations onto their chosen politicians but when the latter loses, they blame it on innocent lives.

Elections are very personal but the media is essential to safeguarding the transparency of a democratic process. Bulela Ditswe, as an electoral process, is not even out of bounds for the media.

The media had covered the process like any other political activity. The BDP leadership came late into the day to assure the media of their safety, when horses had already bolted. Fore incidents of this nature, the BDP has a mammoth task to educate its rank and file the more, because the election season is just heating up. In the statement, the BDP indicated that it will take immediate steps to educate its members about the crucial role of the media in the society, as well as caution the perpetrators involved.

Media freedom is a necessity for democratic elections, therefore, its role in an electoral context is tied to its watchdog functions.

As the watchdog, the media offers independent scrutiny on the achievements and pitfalls of political candidates, governments and institutions tasked with managing elections in the country, the party primaries included.

The deeply traumatic nature of the unfortunate Ramotswa incident should never happen again especially since the country is only months away from the biggest stage of them all, the General Election. Tremendous harassment and aggression is a dangerous reality for many journalists around the world. Botswana should never entertain any of that here because it has a grave impact on human rights, democracy and development. Losing an election can be traumatic and hard to take. Defeat at the ballot box is personally embarrassing, but that sense of loss doesn’t mean that journalists should be painted as intruders and enemies in a democratic space.