Bad regimes breed coups

Political leadership models in Africa are a rarity

While they disapprove military coup de’ tats, opposition parties in Botswana blame undemocratic governments and their political leaders for the military takeovers that have been the bane of stability and development in Africa for decades. “The problem of political leaders in Africa, especially those who led the liberation struggles in the respective countries, is not only their tendency to stay in power forever but their penchant for running a one- man government, where the views of the people are suppressed and critics are severely punished, including by death. They do as they please because they believe they are owed something for the part they played in the independence struggles,” said president of the Botswana Peoples’ Party ( BPP), Motlatsi Molapisi, in an interview. According to him, leaders forget that although the civilians did not necessarily engage in military combat, they suffered massive economic losses in addition to lives of families. Meanwhile, the freedom fighters promised the people a better life. “The moment they win power from the colonialists, the new leaders, develop a sense of entitlement and account to nobody. Corruption becomes the order of the day, leading to poverty and unemployment. When that happens, the conditions become rife for a coup de tat which may or may not escalate into an all- out war.

With the support of the citizens, the government may be removed from office,” said Molapisi, whose view is that political leadership models in Africa, particularly at the apex of power, are a rarity. According to him, leaders should always pay attention when a colleague is booted out of power and reflect on their own leadership style with the view to the pledges he or she made before taking office.

Molapisi is disappointed that the Botswana Democratic Party ( BDP) endorsed Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa after his ‘ win’ of what the opposition, the Southern African Development Community ( SADC) and other observers dismissed as a massive farce.

For the Botswana Congress Party ( BCP), democracy and good governance constitute the party’s value preposition. “In that respect we do not support any change of government that is not based on the will of the people, including military coup d’état and rigging of the elections such as what happened in Zimbabwe recently when the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union ( ZANU) rigged the elections,” declared the party publicity secretary, Dr. Mpho Pheko. While the BCP does not condone the take- over of power through undemocratic means, the party’s view is that governments should work for the people. Dr. Pheko further pointed out that elections that facilitate change of governments should be free and fair. “In fact we are surprised that despite the condemnation of the Zimbabwe elections not meeting the guidelines of a free and fair elections as set by SADC, the government of Botswana has embraced its outcome,” stated Dr. Pheko, who is not happy that the ruling party congratulated ZANU PF for the win and even graced Mnangangwa’s inauguration. “We condemn the coup d’état in Gabon and other countries in the strongest possible terms. We further call upon all African governments to carry out their mandate beyond reproach to avoid the malady of coup d’état,” warned the BCP official, who appealed that as the country goes into the 2024 general elections it should be a lesson to Botswana that governments should work for every citizen and elections should be free and fair. “It has become fashionable, particularly in Africa that governments work for the ruling elite at the expense of the majority of the populace. Corruption usually becomes the order of the day and deprive citizens the much needed services and livelihood. This breeds a fertile ground for unorthodox methods of changing governments. It leads to political instability,” said the BCP official.