Don’t Lock Us Up, Mr President!

Hello Mr President! We understand you will be addressing us tomorrow night. Before then, we would like to respectfully address you, Sir! We hear of the frightening news that you intend to pulverise our livelihoods. Yes, pulverise. That is just how bad the situation is Mr President. A lockdown will ruin the lives of many Batswana and pulverise the economy.

Mr President, we hope it is not true. However, in the unfortunate event that it is true, please reconsider your decision to impose a hard lockdown. As has always been said by health experts that a lockdown could always be an option to fight the pandemic, livelihoods should not come to a standstill.

The government still failed to support all its people despite there having been wage subsidies and a supply of food to those in need in the past. Batswana are struggling while you keep on increasing taxes and prices for essentials like electricity, water and fuel. While Batswana are losing jobs daily, even the Water Utilities Corporation has threatened water supply cuts on any Motswana in arrears, in a time of a spreading deadly virus.

If one is fortunate to have a job, many a Motswana face exploitation at the hands of their employers, who also decry their businesses are crippled by COVID-19. Mr President, we call on you to speak to Batswana about plans to get more people vaccinated. There is no doubt that the faster we acquire the vaccines and administer them, the sooner we will go back to freedom. It is possible as seen by many that have been watching European football with packed stadiums.

The creative and entertainment industries have been on their knees for a while now and the quicker we vaccinate the sooner they can start recovering. Teachers, journalists and others on the frontline all need to be vaccinated as they are at risk of contracting the virus, worse, spreading it to many others. As you speak to those relevant to speeding up the vaccine rollout, kindly consider all those on the frontlines and their families.

You could in the meantime Mr President consider closing schools until the end of winter to reduce the spread of the disease. Currently, health facilities are packed with students coming in day-by-day to test, as schools record growing numbers of COVID-19 cases. Mr President, please open up the liquor industry.

You should be making decisions based on evidence and there has not been any justification as to why you shut down an industry supporting over 200,000 livelihoods in its value chain. We, therefore, request that you set aside the liquor ban and ensure stringent measures such as maximum penalties to deter would-be offenders. We also call on all Batswana to follow all COCID-19 health safety protocols. We cannot put it all on the leadership, as we each need to be responsible, accountable and cautious enough to play our part in the fight against COVID-19.