Botswana's Dynasty Of Good Democracy

Rejoice Ngwenya, head of the libertarian Coalition for Liberal Market Solutions (Zimbabwe) has problems with Botswana's one-party political dominance: "There is something fundamentally flawed with so-called ‘democracies’ that perpetuate political, monarchical or tribal dynasty. In Swaziland where The Mswatis rule by decree, in the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] where the Kabilas cheat at the ballot box; the Bongos, the Kaddafis and the Mugabes who enforce their will using AK47s – we Africans have grown to tolerate dynastical oppression. But in a country where freedom, choice, multiplicity, tolerance, tranquility and respect for property rights are virtually a way of life, it is impossible to figure out why one political party, the Botswana Democratic Party [BDP] can exert such paralysing influence for over half a century. It is either the Tswanas are too naive or the [ruling family] Khamas are so incredibly good!"

He continues his commentary: "Most international institutions of ‘good governance’ – including our very own IMANI – tout Botswana as one of the ‘best’ democracies in the modern world, and for good reason. The Khama dynasty has long presided over peace, stability and exponential economic growth in the former British protectorate that has never tested political acrimony. With an overall population fewer than two and half million and the world’s largest known reserves of gem diamonds in Jwaneng, this Southern African country has escaped Africa’s traditional resource curse of corruption and crude management that plunges similar economies like Nigeria and the DRC into heart-rending strife. An average 9% growth rate yielding a US$14,000 Gross Domestic Product per capita and sophisticated infrastructure is any African’s dream destination. And yet critics of reigning President Seretse Ian Khama argue that good governance goes beyond the usual indicators of ‘democratic fitness’ like a free economy, zero tolerance to corruption, respect of property rights and 'A' grade credit ratings. The retired military man has been accused of heavy handedness when it comes to using the majority that his BDP enjoys in government. As late as last week, political opponents pointed fingers at him for misusing government funds and resources to ‘reinforce Botswana Democratic Party campaigns in constituencies where the opposition is considered to pose a threat’. The bedrock of Botswana’s democratic culture – the ‘kgotla’ village consultative forum – has been one of the entities that Ian Khama is said to exploit in furthering autocratic and populist interests."

More commentary from Mr. Ngwenya about Botswana: "So what is the problem with Ian Khama’s renewed five-year tenure? Looked every which way, there is evidence, more so in Africa, that one-party political dominance, even if it is a product of a perfect democracy, is not healthy for a nation. South Africans have only known two political parties – the Apartheid sponsored National Party and Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress [ANC]. Generations of Zimbabweans have come and gone under Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front and Robert Mugabe’s painful rule, not to mention Mozambicans who cannot perceive life without Samora Machel’s FRELIMO party. In all the above cases, the systems have produced complacency, poverty, crime, homelessness, illiteracy and in Zimbabwe’s case, genocide."

Final thoughts from Mr. Ngwenya, including advice for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe: "Put another way, the case of Khama’s political domination may not necessarily be a gift to the world democratic movement, but compared to American friends in Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and of late, the embattled Afghanistan – we So[u]thern Africans have to give Botswana a standing ovation. An election where literarily all parties campaign under the same roof without a single [political] water glass being broken must be a Guinness Book entry! Zimbabweans may be ‘smarter’ than their Tswana neighbours intellectually, but they have a lot to learn. Mugabe’s resentment of ‘Sir Seretse Khama’s young boy’ is founded in jealousy and envy. Between 1980 and June 2008, Mugabe’s brand of ‘constitutional democracy’ has accounted for over twenty five thousand deaths and three million economic refuges. If this had happened in Botswana, there would be no country to write about! Mr Mugabe, for crying out loud, look across the border, watch and learn on how REAL elections are run."