allAfrica.com: Botswana: The Meaning of Discipline (Page 1 of 1)

The American Heritage College Dictionary defines the word discipline as "Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral mental improvement".

The other definition rendered in the same dictionary says discipline is "Controlled behavior resulting from disciplinary training." It also defines discipline as "Control obtained by enforcing compliance or order", or a "Systematic method to obtain obedience" and "Order based on submission to authority".

A cursory look at all these definitions shows that discipline implies some form of control to achieve a desired behavioral pattern. Such behavior is imposed as opposed to being a positive outcome of one's socialization be it at the level of family, educational institution or workplace. It is natural for human beings to be suspicious of, if not averse to, control even if such control could be beneficial to them. And perhaps this is why there has been so much unease within some quarters in our society, especially the media fraternity, towards President Ian Khama's reference to discipline in his inaugural speech last week.

Needless to say Khama gave the speech of his life that morning of April 1 2008. It was inspirational. It was the kind of speech that the nation had always waited for. A speech that could galvanize the nation into action and make every Motswana feel proud to be a Motswana. Khama spoke like a leader who has a vision for his country and wanted his people to help him realize it. He also took the opportunity to allay the apprehension harbored by some that he might be dictatorial by declaring that he is a democrat.

However, his fourth "D" for Discipline seems to have spoilt what was otherwise a well-received speech. If the President were speaking off-the-cuff, I would have said he misspoke when he mentioned the word discipline. But since his was a written speech it is quite clear that he wanted to highlight the issue of discipline as one of the priorities of his presidency. That is how Khama would like to be remembered at the end of his term. He would like to be remembered as the president who instilled a sense of discipline in his people. That would form part of his legacy. The President's advisors did him a disservice. And it is sheer coincidence that the word disservice starts with a "D". At the drafting stage of the speech they should have advised the President to read the Long Term Vision For Botswana: Towards Prosperity For All. The document could have given him an excellent contextual framework to articulate the four D's in their proper perspective as they pertain to the specific conditions of Botswana society. The President would have realized that in the "caring, just and compassionate" society that this nation is trying to become there is no place for a desire to "command, control, programme, force and order" anybody to exude a particular behavior pattern in the manner in which his articulation of discipline seemed to suggest.

It appears to me that the use of the word discipline by the President was meant to be an approximation of Botho, which is identified as the fifth national principle in Vision 2016. But the way the President articulated discipline when he was delivering his speech completely deviated from even the most liberal interpretation of Botho as envisaged in Vision 2016. According to Vision 2016 "Botho refers to one of the tenets of African culture - the concept of a person who has a well-rounded character, who is well-mannered, courteous and disciplined, and realizes his or her full potential, both as an individual and as a part of the community to which he or she belongs." Vision 2016 further says, "Botho defines a process for earning respect by first giving it, and to gain empowerment by empowering others... It disapproves of antisocial, disgraceful, inhuman and criminal behavior, and encourages social justice for all".

If Vision 2106's definition is anything to go by one of the character traits of Botho is discipline as in self-respect as opposed to "control obtained by enforcing compliance or order". Botho is about imbibing that which is virtuous about humanity and living it in your community as opposed to being coerced to toe a particular line. Botho is an African value system that says, "I am because we are".

A self-respecting citizen would not go out of his or her way to slander or defame others. A self-respecting person practices the golden rule, which says, "do unto others what you would like done unto you". Unless the President consciously and deliberately wanted to maintain the "D" rhyme to his speech he should have substituted Botho for Discipline because it encompasses the sense of discipline which is desirable as opposed to discipline that seeks to "enforce compliance" to achieve a certain behavior.

Perhaps it is this inclination, real or imagined, to want to "command, control, order and enforce" which is implied in his inaugural address that makes some people doubt the new President's bona fides as a self-proclaimed democrat. Khama's use of the word "discipline", under the circumstances, surely betrayed his disposition as a military bogeyman who is still struggling to revert to a civilian mindset.

The writer is Mmegi's Managing Editor

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