Let's Be Constructive In Our Criticism

Monitor Editor | Monday April 9, 2018 15:52

Botswana is considered a democracy, and its citizens enjoy free speech to a certain extent, hence the many analysis, and critical opinions published by different people on various platforms.

Almost all local newspapers published analyses, opinion pieces, before and after the inauguration, and some members of the society decided to voice their opinion via social media platforms, especially Facebook.

Debate is very important in a democracy, and it goes a long in enhancing democracy, and making sure that there is accountability, but it has to be done in a constructive manner. Facebook, since the inauguration has been awash with diverse messages about the new President and his newly appointed cabinet; some of which were congratulatory messages, while others were somewhat bordering on what we might term constructive criticism, and others giving their analysis on the President and his Cabinet.

There is a segment, which however, finds it necessary to be noisemakers that don’t base their opinions on anything perceptible. While social media platforms are a welcome development, there are individuals who have made it a norm to misuse the platform, and use it to insult, belittle, and give out useless opinions, all for the love of likes and social media popularity.

Some of course in their debates make reference to the National Petroleum Fund (NPF) P250 million scandal, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that; we as Batswana have the right to want answers in relation to the allegations thrown at the former President, the new President, and other high ranking officials within the party. But for our demands to be taken seriously and bear fruit, we need to approach the issues in a diplomatic manner.

Our legal system stipulates that someone is ‘innocent until proven guilty’, but certain individuals have chosen to not only be the judges and pass the guilty verdict, they have also taken it upon themselves to throw words such as ‘thieves’ in the process. It is high time we as Batswana wake up and start discussing issues in a healthy intelligent manner.

Insulting those in power without offering doable solutions will continue to render our beautiful country stagnant, and those who get impressed by the insults hurled, with laugh and click the like button, forget about it and go on with their everyday life. It is our duty to hold the government accountable, and make demands to ensure that our resources are used to benefit the nation at large and not a few individuals. Let’s all participate in the growth of our country, and stop wasting time with useless debates that will not take us anywhere.