These Khama times are weird and bad indeed

He has conceptualized 1st Victorian Montgomery's military style of MWA -  'management by wondering around' the country to magnify his populist cult of adoration. For over a 100 days or so, the new president of the Republic of Botswana has drafted 'a chronology of insignificant events that will eventually lead to the downfall of the economy of Botswana'. A fitting epitaph indeed.

All these instructions and directives bearing intriguing ideas and initiatives given on short notice are ingredients for a disaster. These are incompatible and unsustainable and are simply meant to buy cheap votes. This is electoral vote chicanery in its most distasteful form. The BDP government is like a corpse that is severely traumatized and disfigured by a deadly disease caused by a strange virus. Here is a mortuary in vain to embalm the remains of a dead body. So traumatized and disfigured by a very strange viral disease. Surely, the much loathed and revered magic wand played at the sleight of a hand is going to fade soon. All these initiatives in the long run aren't going to be sustainable as they have their own limitations. Wayback 1994 to date, the BDP government has created a vicious cycle of economic impoverishment through tentative citizen economic empowerment programmes. All these programmes at first created envy amongst Batswana but ultimately did the citizens of this country a lot of disgrace, embarrassments, self pity and exposure to ridicule and gossips about failure. What the doomed BDP regime is good at is massive hemorrhage of financial resources to buy votes. They came out with tentative citizen economic impoverishment programmes [passively called empowerment] only to make the prospective Batswana entrepreneurs a societal ridicule, scorn and tease for failure in business.

To date how many prosperous businessmen and women were produced by the BWP86 million SMME fund? As I write this, CEDA has accrued arrears to the tune of over BWP123 million. This has created a vicious cycle of economic impoverishment as a lot if not almost all of these start-up businesses have collapsed. The owners have been blacklisted. With the BWP 86 million SMME fund we had expected the growth of the companies of the local entrepreneurs and their correlation with job creation, this dates wayback 1999.

How many years have elapsed since this vicious cycle of economic impoverishment was created and allowed to excess without being cured? Its about 8 years and yet there are blind admirers who say there is a miracle performer with a magic wand at the sleight of his hands to ward off this cycle of impoverishment. Blunders after blunders! How far will this doomed BDP regime take us? It is ridiculously absurd that all of a sudden we say there is a leader so clever to come out with initiatives to confront, arrest old and intractable problems created by a prodigality of his government. One grossly stupid mistake that we Africans make, is to treat our leaders as if they are larger than life.

This populist political cult of self-adoration centered upon one leader is just to falsify blind admirers that the BDP is alive. The BDP has outlived power, the party has become weary and doomed, it has run out of ideas. Right wingers as they are, the BDP has no orientation for progressive way of government. By letting this dead BDP regime to plagiarise BNF policies, there is going to be a disaster. Just wait and see.

What have we to do with this apparent meet and greet administration of a republic? What have we to do with gesticulation, aphorisms and a kaleidoscope of emotions of uncontrollable excitement and happiness towards one leader? Leadership idolatry has become so manifest in this country. Here is a doomed government that has created intractable socio-economic problems that have come out in different shapes and sizes in the lives of its people. Blind admirers believe the leader of the same government whom they respect, and fear like a little God and revile him because of the force of his ideas so intrigue can alleviate them from poverty in the twinkling of an eye.

The official designation after him of public places such as parks, orphanage care centers, public lavatories and the ubiquitous colourful display of an idolized leaders portrays, speeches and articles feature much in this cult of populist political cult of adoration.

It is common knowledge that the BDP partisan and silly politics, and favouritism feature strongly in the clamour for top and middle positions in the entire public service. This has led to conservatism, slack and laxity, official corruption, theft, nepotism, tribalism and above all poor performance and a sorry sight of bullying and poor service delivery.

People are given top positions not on merit but because they are bootlickers of the BDP. Now, its so taking aback to learn that the very same government that has allowed all these things to happen after a public outcry about poor service delivery is now turning against its own political appointees - government officials in top and middle positions. They are now being fired and removed from office without notice, this is an intricate scheme or scam by a desolate BDP government to buy votes through chicanery. These top and middle management officials in different government departments are being falsely accused of poor performance. Need I say more?

Cde Bashi Nkau
TLOKWENG