1 April 2008
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Speech by His Excellency FESTUS G. MOGAE, President of the Republic of Botswana and also President of the Botswana Democratic Party, at the national council of the Botswana Democratic Party
Madomi a a rategang, I welcome you to this momentous 2008 National Council of the Botswana Democratic Party. This is one of the many pleasant events I have attended in the last three months. As you are aware, I have spent the last few weeks travelling throughout our country meeting Batswana of all walks of life. My trips have covered all our major centres - from Tsabong in the South to Kasane in the North and from Charleshill in the west to Bobonong in the east.
I have met young Batswana who are our leaders of tomorrow as well as senior citizens of my age and above, who do not aspire for any political office, but would be eternally grateful if they received their tandabala on time. I also met Dikgosi tsa rona, public officers, captains of industry, trade unionists, BDP members, opposition party members, as well as many many ordinary Batswana who constitute the silent majority.
I was amazed and humbled by the manner in which my kgotla meetings spontaneously turned into a celebrative mood exciting the entire spectrum of all those who attended. I was touched and overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection and generosity. Indeed MmaNametso and I cannot find enough words to express our gratitude.
All the people I met, socialized with me cheerfully, and fraternised with one another without any discernible tension. I was left without any shadow of doubt that our beloved Botswana has truly become a proud and united nation. I felt proud that I made a modest contribution towards the consolidation of our national unity through the enlargement of Ntlo ya Dikgosi tsa rona and the inclusion of many of our traditional leaders into the mainstream of national leadership.
There were many who ululated and praised me for having maintained the tradition and the principles of Democracy Development, Self-Reliance and Unity, which we inherited from our founding fathers. There were many who expressed full confidence in our in-coming President Lt Gen Seretse Khama Ian Khama as both he and I, and others in our team came from the same political mould constructed by our predecessors. I interpreted this not so much as a tribute to me or my successor, but rather as an expression of confidence in and satisfaction with the fundamental law of the land - our constitution.
There is a solid consensus of Batswana out there who are happy with our constitution. They are not ashamed to confirm loudly and passionately that the political stability and the relative economic prosperity that we have enjoyed over the years are attributable, not just to the good leadership of the BDP, but also to the firm structure and quality of the letter of the Botswana constitution. Some key aspects of our constitution were applauded such as automatic succession, constituency-based national assembly elections, and the built-in spirit of Therisanyo. These pillars of our constitution were said to be firmly rooted in our culture, traditions and our Kgotla system.
Some went as far as to applaud the succession plan of the Botswana Democratic Party which they saw as an integral part of our constitutional development. Naturally I agreed with them, especially as our party is the only party in Botswana, which has a clear and irrevocable succession plan. There can be no doubt that our succession plan is a distinctive hallmark of our political stability. Elsewhere, in times of leadership transition, there would be murmurs, or even tremors which could result in confusion and chaos.
We must be grateful that we do not even have a ripple of disquiet as we change the guard. I must once again acknowledge the debt of gratitude we owe the founding fathers of our Republic - Sir Seretse Khama and those of his team who are no longer with us and Sir Ketumile Masire and his colleagues who have retired from active service - for being the architects of a viable and workable constitutional dispensation and an enviable democratic system of governance. Let us stand for one minute to show our appreciation and respect and to salute these heroes of Yesteryear without whose courageous contribution the Botswana of today might not have seen the light of day. We pledge never to disappoint them.
The art of good government is similar to skills in the building industry. Only good architects produce solid buildings. Our system of Government is solid and stable because it was well architectured. Unfortunately, human nature has determined that just as good architects have to share the same firmament with poorly skilled mortals, so must good politicians co-exist with unskilled ones. There exist a few vociferous politicians, some of them in the National assembly who will sacrifice every rule in the book to gain political mileage. These individuals have been calling for various political reforms which would lead to major changes to our constitution. Although, they do not have much support nationally they have received a disproportionate share of attention from our media which they have used to whip at the Botswana Democratic Party.
The impression has been created that we are against reforms. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are a number of political reforms which we have introduced over the years which the opposition now claims to have authored. There simply is no validity in the assertion that the lowering of the voting age to 18 years and the creation of the Independent Electoral Commission were initiatives of the opposition. How could they initiate such major changes when they have never been in Government. People are entitled to dream - but they must know that dreams cannot rewrite history.
It must be understood that on the basis of our experience and our good leadership credentials, the people of Botswana have chosen us to be the custodians of their constitution. We would like to assure Batswana that we take this responsibility very seriously. We have sworn before the Almighty to defend the constitution. And, we shall. We will not allow the whims of individual politicians to erode the sanctity of our constitution.
The Botswana Democratic Party would be the main beneficiary of some of the reforms that are being talked about. For instance if we were to introduce direct election of the President, we would stand to gain because we are the only party that has solid support in all the regions of Botswana. Our opposition colleagues have support in some parts of the country but they are non-existent in other parts. Therefore, any ground truth investigation would prove that our presidential candidates would dominate the political arena even in direct elections. Similarly, if there were to be party funding by the state, as the majority party in the country, we would be the main beneficiary of such a policy.
If we were guided strictly by self-interest we would introduce some of these changes without being prompted. Batswana now know that we are nation builders, and, as such we always have to take the interests of all into account including those of future generations. The opposition parties on the other hand, have demonstrated that they are mere political commentators who come and go. They are not skilled and schooled in the art and architecture of government. That is why their positions on political reform are always characterised by obsession, subjectivity and perceived political advantage. Little do they realize that they may be pursuing a paper tiger.
My advice is that we must show maturity and patience; in the true spirit of Mafoko a kgotla a mantle otlhe, we must listen but be steadfast in explaining that government cannot be treated like fashion, where change is embraced because one's high profile neighbours looked glamorous wearing it. We are being asked to introduce direct elections for our Presidents because the Kenyans and Zimbabweans have done so; that we should have party funding because it is practiced in the United States of America. Our existing system is lampooned and disparaged even though it has not caused any disasters. What kind of parents love their neighbours' children more than their own. This is the phenomenon which our opposition colleagues exhibit.
It is difficult to know what their next demand will be. They may even suggest that we abandon our kgotla system just because South Africa and Namibia do not have it. Fellow Democrats, I prefer a situation where we love our own and demonstrate through deeds that we are a viable family and viable state. In addition, I would not employ an architect who recommends that I should reconstruct a well built house just because the children's bedrooms are too small. Our constitution is well built and well structured, therefore any tinkering could trivialise an important document and unnecessarily make it a political campaign issue. The issues raised are children's bedrooms.
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