A newly published academic paper has attributed the fall of the BDP on former president Mokgweetsi Masisi’s “blatant arrogance” and “penchant for offensive language” and argues that his behaviour was unsuitable for the presidency. Staff Writer TEFO PHEAGE reports
An academic paper by Christian John Makgala, a Professor of History and Political Economy at the University of Botswana (UB), published by Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group in a journal, has partly blamed the Botswana Democratic Party’s (BDP) electoral loss on former president Mokgweetsi Masisi’s “blatant arrogance” and “penchant for offensive language” at political rallies and towards village elders, further concluding that this conduct “alienated many people”.
Titled 2024 Botswana Election Dynamics and Presage for Future Government and Governance, Makgala asserts: “Intolerance of opponents both inside and outside the BDP and the use of the intelligence agency to harass and humiliate them became commonplace. State apparatus and trumped-up charges were also deployed in a war of attrition against Khama, forcing him to flee to South Africa in late 2021.
Inequality
Party elders who attempted to intervene and advise Masisi on improving his relationship with Khama and other matters were ignored. Like Khama, he was described as intolerant by the 2022 Bertelsmann Stiftung report while the 2022 World Happiness Report ranked Batswana among the world’s unhappiest people. According to the 2022 World Bank report, economic inequality in Botswana remained one of the highest globally”.
According to the paper, “Masisi displayed behaviour unsuitable for the presidency, continuing to use offensive language publicly, including during crucial negotiations with De Beers over diamond licences in 2023.”
It continues: “De Beers is the country’s primary investor, and his conduct was criticised as reckless ‘resource nationalism’. The sharp decline in diamond sales in the international market, which negatively impacted government finances and led to discussions of austerity measures, was attributed to Masisi’s remarks regarding negotiations with De Beers.
State secrets
“Reports indicated that government coffers were so depleted that there were fears civil servants might not receive their salaries. As the election approached, he theatrically revealed state secrets about past negotiations with De Beers in an attempt to spite Khama at a political rally, attracting condemnation from critics for violating his presidential oath.”
Makgala says the BDP primary elections were unusually held very late, and the multitude of protests
by losing candidates citing irregularities were ignored by the party leadership, except for one
constituency where Masisi’s finance minister and purported presidential successor had
lost dismally.
“The winner was suspended by the party leadership, eliciting significant
public anger against Masisi. The suspended member left the BDP and contested the election as an independent candidate, which he won by a substantial margin,” writes Makgala.
Zimbabwe ties
The author points out that another blemish on Masisi was his ties to the unpopular Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa and his aggressive push for cross-border movement using national identity cards instead of passports. Professor Makgala writes that this “angered many Batswana, especially amid rising crime linked to the influx of undocumented Zimbabweans since the collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy in 2000”.
According to the author, “tensions grew when Botswana’s Independent Electoral Commission was found to have secretly benchmarked with the discredited Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, raising suspicions of election-rigging in favour of the BDP”.
This concern, Professor Makgala writes, was intensified by an official from the ruling ZANU-PF party pledge of support for the BDP’s re-election at its September 2024 manifesto launch. “The situation worsened with claims of Zimbabwe’s interference in the South African and Mozambican elections in May and October 2024, supporting the ruling parties there,” the paper reads further.