It does not rain but it just pours for the Masisi government. The country has a President that has not only lost a sense of wrong and right, but also now uses it as a personal trophy with which to amass wealth and engage in expensive excursions to Namibia. The norm is that, after a state visit the other head of state also visits to reciprocate. Shockingly, we see President Masisi in the middle of a pandemic travelling to Namibia repeatedly and at huge cost. The BPF strongly condemns this extremely reckless behavior from President Masisi. He recently told us that the country is broke and faces a huge budget deficit. Given this, we would expect that he cut the bill for his clearly personal travels under the guise of state visits. These are expensive and not a priority. Any of his meetings in Namibia may be done virtually. There are no vital issues of national interest that he has been discussing. Given the irrational nature of these visits, Batswana have started murmuring on why he keeps travelling. The President can no longer argue against people who say he had to travel to Namibia twice in row to take his own COVID-19 vaccine shots and also that he travels to Namibia because he has a personal interest in the discovery of oil which will be refined in Namibia and not in Botswana. Ordinarily, we would have expected that a refinery be built also in Botswana for the discovery, but the President has not had this as a priority, instead, he prioritizes his own interests in Namibia. We wish to caution against this behavior and remind President Masisi of his oath of office to serve Batswana diligently and without prioritizing his personal interests. While at it, Mr. President, please be reminded that you will never be poor again. Just merely being in that office means you’ll be taken care of by the state, you do not need to be in a foot race to become the wealthiest individual in this country. Thank you
Biggie Ganda Butale
President, Botswana Patriotic Front