Inside the Botswana Beltway

Life has been pretty ho-hum on campus the past couple of weeks. Not much to report. Before I get to the meat of this post (I apologize for this pun in advance), there is a great piece in the New York Times about how one can acquire a taste for goat. As much as I've come to enjoy seeing herds of dipodi, or goats, crossing highways more intelligently than most pedestrians in American suburbs, I'm not quite sure I will stomach a nice, juicy goat steak on my Ruby Tuesday's menu.

We should be, as my economics professor Dr. Laurence Ball would say, "steaming ahead". This post will try to be as neutral as possible and a disclaimer to all Batswana reading this article: I know that I have only been here a few months and these observations are based upon my own interactions with other Batswana. They may not be representative of every Motswana, but bear with me.

Botswana's claim to fame in Africa is its serenity, thus the lack of traditional Pan-African colors on its flag (photo courtesy of FutureAtlas.com). Instead, the light blue reflects the peace this country has enjoyed in its forty-four years of independence. Unlike most other countries in Africa, Botswana was never colonized in the formal sense and was only taken on as a British protectorate when Botswana's chiefs felt a physical threat from South Africa. Then in 1964, Botswana leaders put forth proposals for independence which were granted and in 1966, Botswana's first general elections were held with the winner being Seretse Khama (left).

Khama is a looming figure in Botswana, not only noted for his central role in creating the modern nation of Botswana, but now his son, Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama is the fourth president. When President Festus Mogae resigned in April 2008, Ian Khama became Botswana's fourth head of state, a number which is not lost on those critical of Botswana's democratic regime.

More than once here, someone has asked me how many presidents America has had. "With Obama, that's 44," I tell them. "See we are forty presidents behind you!" they respond, as if the strength of a democracy is the number of leaders. A quick counter-example in Mexico sticks out, as its one party regime produced a new president every four years for nearly eighty years. The PRI is hardly the democracy I believe Batswana or Americans envy. A more accurate assessment of the situation shows that the US has had nine presidents (including Obama) to Botswana's four since Botswana's independence.

This is still a marked difference, just as the political monopoly held by the Botswana Democratic Party is. Founded by big Khama and now led by little Khama, the BDP has held the majority throughout the nation's history, leading many in the opposition to question the democratic character of Botswana. The main opposition party, the Botswana National Front, currently holds 12 of the 57 seats in the national assembly. My (in geographic terms) representative is one Dumelang Saleshando, the only seated member from the Botswana Congress Party, commonly known as the "most outspoken" MP. Per usual, the opposition parties have their base in the urban areas, and the BDP has very strong appeal in the rural areas.

The current president, however, has shaken the nation in several profound ways. First off, Ian, as we CIEE students affectionately call our new leader, is not seen as truly of Botswana. Raised abroad, his Setswana has not quite attained native fluency. Hard to hold that against him, considering America's own era of presidential grammatical incorrectness. Yet, even more pressing to Batswana is his failure to find a wife and start a family.

It is truly a sad state of affairs to be alone in Setswana culture. Many have pity on my status as an only child, thinking I have no friends or playmates and must therefore be depressed. Families are the ultimate goal of many African traditions, and in the traditional ways, the larger the family, the more powerful the father. My roommate Josh, from Malawi, recounted to me once an argument with an elder of his. "He told me to sit down and said until I had three wives and fourteen children, my opinion didn't matter." It is easy to see then, once again pardon the pun, why some Batswana see the new president impotent in a certain traditional sense.

In the world of policy, the true nuts and bolts of government, the new president has left much to be desired by the nation's progressives. Seeing moral decline as the largest threat facing Botswana, especially reckless driving and alcohol abuse, Ian Khama took his first few political steps in the area of social policy. More specifically, he raised the taxes on alcoholic beverages by 70%, much to the ire of university students and youth in general. More recently, he elevated the fines on traffic violations.

Personally, I can see the rationale. Traffic deaths are the leading cause of death in Botswana, and are at the highest levels in all of southern Africa. Alcohol abuse, which not only increases the amount of traffic accidents, is proliferate in a country with almost 20% unemployment. Many jokes are made about the chibuku (traditional beer) drinkers in Botswana. Ian's newest controversy is the civil dress code, which aims to return a paternal sense of "decency" to the government's female staff. Even the BBC picked up this story.

More worrisome to outside observers is Ian Khama's seeming disinterest in the economic crisis engulfing his country. Debswana, the joint venture between DeBeers diamond company and the government of Botswana, suspended operations in its largest mines. Not only is Debswana the largest diamond mining group in monetary value, it is only responsible for almost half of Botswana's annual revenue. Drastic cuts are being made, and Khama's opponents feel that he has done little to mitigate the damages.

General elections are scheduled for this fall, and the newspapers are littered with political scandal in all parties, but especially within the BDP. Opposition supporters are hoping to steal a majority in the Assembly. The level of political criticism in this country is a testament, despite the somewhat undemocratic nature of the ruling party, to the peaceful and tolerant nature of the Batswana. The ability to speak one's opinion without fear of retribution is something many Americans hold most dear, and it is reassuring to find it so close to the hostile politics of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

I hope you are happy, Miriam. This post sapped the energy out of me on this Thursday night, but I really needed to blog for you all. My next blog will talk about my upcoming road trip through South Africa. Until then, boroko boRra le boMma! (Setswana: Good night, ladies and gentleman!)