And the circus goes on

Editor | Sunday May 12, 2013 00:00

Just last week, the Ian Khama administration announced that it is appointing a ‘Commission of Inquiry’ into problems bedeviling the education sector on the back of the declining Junior Certificate in Education (JCE) examination results. More crisis could be in the offing as the nation awaits the BGCSE results.

What is intriguing about the latest episode is the report that the commission is led by none other than the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila. When he headed the Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism, reports of state-sponsored poaching and unlawful capture of live animals, particularly lion cubs and kudus, abounded. At his current ministry, Mokaila is struggling to produce the electricity that his ministry promised us two to four years ago. He has cast us back to the age of paraffin and candles.

The so-called Commission of Inquiry follows another farce last year that passed off as an investigation of the near-collapse of the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) and the country’s beef sector.

The education commission comes at a time when a Parliamentary Special Select Committee is scheduled to start investigating the BMC today.  The committee will hold public hearings. We know that the government will try all in its power to intimidate those who may hold crucial information, or give them secret payments to stay mum. We are confident that this committee will do a better job than the Cabinet’s.

We wonder why the current government is so insecure to the point that it does not care if the economy, education and other such sectors are in a bad state. It just has to protect itself at all costs. When the 2010 examination results showed signs of decline following conflict between government and teachers, Francistown South MP Wynter Mmolotsi tabled a motion requesting government to set up a commission of inquiry. It was shocking how MPs across the board shared the same concerns with Mmolotsi, but those in the ruling party would not allow his motion to pass on partisan grounds.  We vividly remember the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Pono Moatlhodi even calling the education sector a mess and wondering whether there is a minister in charge. Curiously, he declined to support Mmolotsi’s Commission of Inquiry. Where are we now MP Moatlhodi and company?

The Masogo Committee was subsequently appointed, but the same government apparently ignored its findings and recommendations.

The Mokaila commission is nothing but a sham, a waste of taxpayers’ money.

                                                        Today’s thought

“Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.”

                                                                     – Will Rogers quotes