The two blind men

Let me start by acknowledging French philosopher, Jean de La Bruyère’s caution that, “We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.”

I have taken the caution, of course with exception, because really, to grasp the pains of power, we must talk to those who have it, and to know its pleasures, we must talk about those who seek it. I am told, it is recorded somewhere in the Gospel of Mark that a blind beggar, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, shouted at Jesus, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!”

It is further recorded, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus responded, “Rabbi, I want to see.” These are the words that President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his chief spy, Brigadier Peter Magosi should be saying. There is no longer any doubt that the two are just moving in the dark. Pitch black darkness for that matter.

It is difficult to say both Masisi and Magosi have lost direction, because in the first place, they have failed to demonstrate to have ever had one. All we know is that we are following them, but we do not have a clue of where they are taking us. We only hope it is not into the bottomless pit of hell.

That is, if we are not already there. What is most intriguing of these two is that, we do not even know who is leading who! Our security challenges are as high as our political and economic troubles. And the situation becomes hopeless by the day. President Masisi has failed to fully understand the fundamentals of power in polity and bodypolitic thereof.

In polity, power is of essence in the same way energy is in physics. If he fails to grasp this fundamental relationship, he runs the risk of being in power, but without power. Let us hasten to seek refuge in facts and say, fate has been very kind to both Masisi and Magosi. Any other attribution, would be untrue.

In the 2019 elections, Batswana parried a wellfinanced political ploy against Masisi and threw him a political lifeline. They battled and rejected well- crafted narratives by the Moti cabal, laundered by ‘ armies of opinion shapers’ through the internet ecosystem with a force- multiplying effect.

The indecisiveness, which bordered on cowardice on the part of Masisi and state, opened wide a ‘ bucket of deplorables.’ Both Khama and the Moti cabal ran amok. They dominated the terrain and dictated the tactics. The national security architecture stood by helplessly as Khama and transnational thugs, poisoned the political landscape with dirty money and politics of identity.

This show went on unimpeded, until Batswana put a dreadful halt to its momentum. Had it not been for Batswana, we could be now talking a totally different story. Perhaps with even Masisi in jail. But there is much Batswana can do.

The resultant has been a political and homeland security environment that even calls into question Masisi’s authority. Instead of him coming out boldly to assert his authority, through clearly articulated and pragmatic socio- economic and political programmes aimed at uplifting the lives of Batswana, Masisi, exhausted his energy and state resources in a petty fight with Ian Khama.

Masisi is leading from the past. He has allowed his past to dictate his future. The same applies to Magosi in relation to Kgosi. Masisi has failed to set a clear and unambiguous command climate. This would have given bureaucracy and state institutions, a defined strategic direction. So far, his strategic ambiguity has created unnecessary anxiety and ineptness in the bureaucracy.

It is overstating the obvious to say, every nation desires a bold and decisive leader. A leader that embraces allies and defeats adversaries. After all, an army of sheep led by a lion will always defeat an army of lions led by sheep.

The undisputed truth is that, Masisi has disappointed us.