ABOLISH GENERAL ELECTIONS ONCE AND FOR ALL

Previously, we made a submission to the Constitutional Review Commission that poor men should be discouraged from advocating for polygamy. That big- money issue doesn’t concern them.

We would like to make another submission, this one on the holding of general elections. For economic reasons, these elections are unnecessary and should be abolished once and for all. Apparently executive political power makes people business ( and artistic) geniuses. People who never had business acumen, alongside family members, become super- rich once they are in power. The best example to quote in the SADC region is that of Eduardo dos Santos, whose daughter became one of the wealthiest black women in the world. Jacob Zuma’s Dubai- based son, Duduzane, is now reportedly worth R249 million. Joe Biden’s son now sells high- prized paintings and has become a multi- millionaire overnight. Here at home, President Mokgweetsi Masisi is said to have become filthy rich after he assumed power.

Make no mistake, whichever opposition leader becomes Botswana’s president will also become super- rich overnight. The story we hear is that these people got rich off brilliant business ideas. Many more people have such ideas but it seems that such ideas necessarily need to be paired with political power to bear fruit. To that end, we propose to the Commission that elections should be scrapped and that citizens from different regions and tribes be equitably rotated in and out of elected office at national level. Executive office ( presidency and cabinet positions) should last a year in order to unlock business acumen from more people – and their family members. More citizens across regional and tribal spectrum will be empowered and Botswana will become an economic powerhouse.