The paper quoted Vice-President Mompati Merafhe saying that
President Khama is concerned about moral decay in Botswana and
is willing to enforce military style discipline to rectify the situation. It
reported Mr Merafhe saying that ‘we will rule the country militarily if
need be’.
According to Echo, the VP said: “The president tells me that when
people don’t listen we should borrow codes from the force that will
help in addressing social ills that are a problem in our society”.
But a statement from Office of the President said that Merafhe never said or implied such a
thing. The statement demanded a correction and apology to Merafhe, which should be given the
same prominence by the newspaper.
Commanders
Both Khama and Merafhe are former commanders of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).
Merafhe was the founding commander of BDF with Khama as his deputy. When Merafhe retired
and joined politics, Khama took over as BDF boss.
News about Merafhe saying that Khama can enforce military rule has come against the
background of complaints that the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and the civil service
is being militarised.
There have been worries that too many former soldiers are becoming MPs and getting cabinet
posts while others are being given key positions in the civil service.
So far, there are four former soldiers in the 15-strong cabinet and five ex-military men
(excluding Khama) among the BDP’s 45 elected MPs.
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media
(allAfrica.com).
By Wene Owino