It’s easy for Saleshando to play the blame game

Recently, the Leader of the Opposition, Dumelang Saleshando, informed the nation that he would call for a vote of no confidence in the BDP government at the beginning of the next Parliamentary session in November.

I believe that he was motivated to do this for two reasons. Firstly, the demonstration led by a certain lone clergyman, Pastor Tiego, through Gaborone to the Office of the President; already, the man of God had asked the President to resign within seven days. Now there is nothing wrong in that – we live in a democracy and so everyone has the right to speak his mind! However, local police stopped the march and arrested Tiego. They said that he had not applied for a permit to hold the march and that it amounted to a gathering which was prohibited under COVID- 19 protocols. Now if this is so, then the police were well within their rights to do what they did – applying for permits is standard procedure for anyone who wishes to hold a demonstration. And photos of the march carried in some papers clearly showed little social distancing. Hence, Tiego needs to put his own house in order before judging the President’s record on containing the pandemic!

The second reason is the recent victory of Hakainde Hichelema’s Opposition party, the United Party for National Development, in last month’s Zambian elections. Saleshando seems to think that this will pave the way for other victories by Opposition parties in future elections across the region – a type of ‘ Arab Spring.’ Perhaps he believes in the domino effect – if you place some dominoes in an upright position on a table and knock one over, then all the others will fall. And so, Botswana’s domino – the ruling BDP government – will also fall in 2024.

Calling for a motion of no confidence, Saleshando shows that he is judging the government to be ‘ incompetent’ in the way that it is handling the COVID- 19 pandemic and other issues, such as unemployment. But is such a call justified? Now it’s very easy for Saleshando to criticise and play the blame game – he is merely standing on the sidelines watching, waiting and criticising. Furthermore, he does not hold the nation’s purse strings. And blasting the government is sweet music and entertainment to the ears of his supporters who revel in such rhetoric; he is playing to the gallery. Sadly, he is using the suffering of people during the pandemic to score cheap political points.

The pandemic was a godsend for Saleshando and his Umbrella for Democratic Change ( UDC) – coming just six months after the 2019 elections when President Masisi had scarcely had any time to embark on fulfilling his election promises. And when COVID- 19 raised its ugly head in Botswana, time and funds had to be diverted away from implementing planned government programmes towards fighting and containing the virus. And that was not planned, or budgeted for, at the time when Masisi presented his election manifesto before the 2019 election.

The UDC has always criticised government for the State of Emergency ( SOE) that lasted for 18 months from April 2020 to the end of September 2021 saying that it was unnecessary. But what would have happened if a UDC government had been in power and no SOE was implemented? Recently, newspapers have carried reports warning in no uncertain terms that the lifting of the SOE could have negative consequences. Although many companies have complained that they have suffered during the SOE, that’s only because the SOE prohibited retrenchment of workers en masse. And exiting the SOE would no doubt lead to thousands of people being retrenched. In fact, in recent days the Ministry of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development has received 320 retrenchment notifications from different businesses. Now if that were to happen, to save face, Saleshando will now say that the loss of jobs was due to something else! And yet the UDC is always criticising government for not providing jobs?

And to make matters worse, according to Minister Mmusi Kgafela, the ending of the SOE might also lead to sharp increases in the price of basic goods as companies will no longer be bound by restrictions during the SOE which prevented price surges. Without doubt, such price rises will cause the annual rate of inflation to soar beyond 10 percent further hitting people’s pockets and reducing consumer demand thus keeping the country in recession. As the saying goes: When you point fingers at someone else, your thumb points back at you!

Saleshando has the right as the Leader of the Opposition ( LOO) to criticise government when it is due – we live in a democracy and so there is nothing wrong in that. A vocal Opposition is necessary to keep the government in check! But it is not enough! Criticism must also be directed from the Opposition at other sectors of society who may not be behaving in an acceptable manner. The President recently lifted the ban on alcohol and implored Batswana that they too have to play their part in defeating the pandemic by adhering to the protocols. But such repeated statements have, once again, fallen on deaf ears. Social media has been flooded by videos showing revellers in large numbers flouting the protocols and drinking freely in public and outside bars. And the front page of the Daily News of 14 September carried a large picture of one of the many drinking spots that have mushroomed exponentially over the last few weeks.

One Saturday afternoon last month, I counted 90 vehicles outside the Manyanda bar complex in Tonota. And this was mid- month when people say that they have no money! And drinking reached higher levels during the Independence long weekend when people have been paid; at times, over 100 vehicles were parked outside these same bars. Brown and green bottles were scattered all over the place.

Now if Saleshando is committed to the defeat of the pandemic, he should publicly condemn such behaviour but he remains silent.