Who is bewitching the opposition? by Sonny Serite 16-10-2013

Ka mme ruri ba a loiwa. Its not laughable. Its so hurting. Its so depressing. Its very

disappointing. In fact it makes me very angry. Look, for some of us who are tired of this one

party state in Botswana, our hope for change lies in the opposition. Therefore, when the

opposition cant seem to get their house in order, it embarrasses some of us who always

make noise and argue that they be given a chance to prove their worth. We fight in their

corner not because we expect to eat something from them once they are in power but more

importantly because we want to secure a better future for the coming generations.

We want a better Botswana for our children and that can only be achieved through having

leaders who are aware that they can be changed at every election if they become big-headed.

Some of us have had enough of the complacency and the arrogance that comes with having

the same people in power for so long. We know that a vibrant democracy requires change of

hands. We believe great leadership needs an injection of new ideas from different people. It

is for this reason that while we appreciate and acknowledge some of the efforts made by the

BDP, we are also calling for trials of other political parties. We want to try other political

parties and give them the benefit of the doubt. We dont subscribe to the notion that

leadership is a birthright of a select few or that the BDP possesses the monopoly of wisdom

on how to run the country. Opposition parties exist, or must exist, to provide alternative

governance. They should exist as our political spare wheel. It is therefore disheartening

when this supposedly political spare wheel appears deflated and not road worthy whenever

we, the voters, want to put it to use. It still beats me as to why every time when we approach

the general elections our alternative choice of politicians start to behave like Sbrana

escapees. Opposition politicians tend to catch some madness fever on the eve of every

general election. I ask myself, just why do these guys break our hearts and thwart our hopes

every time we ready ourselves to give them the leadership platform?

At the rate these politicians keep breaking our hearts, it is only a matter of time before we

die of political depression. It is so worrying. It is so nauseating. I dont know if the youth of

this country are as worried and as concerned as I am over what is politically going down

here. There are times when I feel perhaps I should just shut up and conform like the rest of

the youth in this country who seem to have surrendered their fate to the hands of their

political leaders. Am I the only concerned, young and restless person in this country? Why

do our young people allow politicians to gamble with their future so willy-nilly?

I know I have not yet stated my case and you probably think Im angered by the continuing

political prostitution that we continue to witness as played out by our politicians. Well,

while these unprincipled political prostitutes piss me off, I am a diehard liberal democrat

and as such I find myself having to respect their choices because really, we are all entitled to

our choices of association. However, I blame Batswana for this escalating prostitution

because we have failed to show our disdain for politicians who hop from one party to the

other, with no sound reasons apart from personal greed. Politicians flip flop between parties

knowing too well Batswana will continue to embrace them. That however, is not my bone of

contention, today. This time my worry is based on the realization that opposition politicians

fail to present themselves as an alternative to the ruling BDP. We are approaching the

general elections but I dont see that vava voom from opposition campaigns.

They are so relaxed. More than ever before, this time Batswana appeared ready to hand over

power to the opposition but the opposition is slowly but surely squandering this goodwill.

Firstly, the opposition is failing to work together and this is not attributed to any

fundamental differences in policies or principles. Failure to work together is only a result of

personal egos and greed. I still fail to understand why Botswana, with such a small

population, should be having so many political parties which in the end split the opposition

vote, much to the advantage of the BDP. It is also disturbing to learn that even as other

three political parties have agreed to combine their efforts and work as one unit, their

members are fighting for positions.

Members from the three parties are fighting for representation at parliament and council

levels. The working class and the tertiary students were ready to vote in an alternative

government, owing to the brutality meted on them by the BDP-led government but Im

afraid they may now find themselves having no choice but to vote for the devil they are used

to as opposition fails to act maturely. President Khama has given opposition enough

ammunition to discredit the BDP but instead of cashing in on Khamas gaffes, our

opposition guys are busy fighting for positions within their parties. I know very well that by

virtue of their incumbency, the BDP is miles ahead when it comes to resources.

Khama and his cabinet ministers use government resources to traverse the country and

campaign for their party but really, should the opposition just fold their arms in despair? If

the opposition contends that it is impossible to wrestle power from the BDP due to lack of

resources, why then cant they just give up on the challenge? In that way we will also give up

on hoping for change. This is the time to start vigorous campaigns and tell Batswana why

you deserve a chance.