The master of a computer is called its programmer. The master of a dog is called its owner. The main difference between a computer and a dog is that a computer NEVER disobeys its programmer, whereas a dog sometimes disobeys its master.
If the programmer tells the computer to always say the opposite of what he (programmer) says, the computer will do exactly that: When the programmer says "good", the computer will say "bad"; when the programmer says "husband", the computer will say "wife"; when the programmer says "UDC", the computer will say "BDP"; when the programmer says "ruling party", the computer will say "opposition party".
In electronic voting, a computer stands between the voter and the people who count the ballots. The voter votes INTO the computer, while the computer interprets that vote as the name of a party. As you can see, the computer will interpret exactly as its programmer has instructed it to do. In other words electronic voting is highly INSECURE. What is ultimately declared as the result of an election is simply what the programmer instructed the computer to report!
Because of this lack of security in electronic voting, none of the countries that MAKE computers, uses electronic voting in general elections. In other words, the people who make the computers do not trust those computers to give them the correct results of an election. And yet here we are, in a country which makes NO computer; which knows next to nothing about the programs that have been put into those computers, declaring to the world that our next general election will be conducted by computer, through electronic voting!
This blog is on record as calling upon the leaders of opposition parties to resign after the last general elections, because they failed to secure the authenticity of the votes that the electorate cast for them; they asked for our votes, without ensuring that our votes would be counted exactly as we had cast them. They betrayed our trust in them as custodians of the authenticity of our ballot.
Today the silence from opposition political parties concerning the proposed use of electronic voting in the next general election is almost deafening. This blog therefore has no alternative but to repeat the call upon the opposition leaders to resign if they cannot mobilize the nation to reject electronic voting in 2019.
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
Diversify economy and lose economic muscle?....never!
Ever since our country attained self-government, and independence two years later in 1966, we have been ruled by one and the same party, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP). You see, our country is democratic; so once every five years we hold general elections. We have held eleven (11) general elections so far, and they have ALL been won by the BDP . The validity or otherwise, of the wins is not my concern in this piece. What I want to point out is the incongruity between where the Government/BDP claims it wants to lead our country, and what they (BDP) actually practice.
After every election, when the freedom-square rhetoric suddenly becomes unfashionable, the government/BDP proclaims that it wants to ensure that it is the private sector that "drives the economy" of our country, and not government as such. To achieve that objective they promise to diversify the economy from its over-reliance on diamonds.
Well, they have not succeeded so far. But should we really believe them? Should we take them at their word that they want to diversify the economy? Let's analyse their claim.
Diversifying the economy means LOSING considerable economic muscle to the private sector. It means the government/BDP losing the economic power that they currently enjoy, of ruthlessly punishing the private media by witholding advertisements from alleged "troublesome, opposition-aligned" newspapers. These, by the way, are simply newspapers that are critical of the way government/BDP wastes national resources through lack of accountability and corruption.
Diversifying the economy means government/BDP losing its grip on Business Botswana. Business Botswana is what used to be called Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). A truly "private sector", driving a truly diversified economy, would not "coincidentally" elect former permanent secretaries and ruling party activists to lead it year in and year out. Even where such coincidence happens if at all, it would be very unlikely that such an organisation would encourage government (it's economic competitor) to levy a tax on an already struggling private sector entity - the private press. The fact that Business Botswana is encouraging government/BDP to levy a tax on the private media, an integral part of the private sector, shows you just how "private" the sector run by Business Botswana really is.
In conclusion, it is clear that government/BDP can really NOT afford to diversify the economy of this country. They cannot afford to share economic power deriving from diamonds with anyone else. But the accolades keep coming in:- most democratic country in bla bla; upper middle income country, bla bla...
After every election, when the freedom-square rhetoric suddenly becomes unfashionable, the government/BDP proclaims that it wants to ensure that it is the private sector that "drives the economy" of our country, and not government as such. To achieve that objective they promise to diversify the economy from its over-reliance on diamonds.
Well, they have not succeeded so far. But should we really believe them? Should we take them at their word that they want to diversify the economy? Let's analyse their claim.
Diversifying the economy means LOSING considerable economic muscle to the private sector. It means the government/BDP losing the economic power that they currently enjoy, of ruthlessly punishing the private media by witholding advertisements from alleged "troublesome, opposition-aligned" newspapers. These, by the way, are simply newspapers that are critical of the way government/BDP wastes national resources through lack of accountability and corruption.
Diversifying the economy means government/BDP losing its grip on Business Botswana. Business Botswana is what used to be called Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower (BOCCIM). A truly "private sector", driving a truly diversified economy, would not "coincidentally" elect former permanent secretaries and ruling party activists to lead it year in and year out. Even where such coincidence happens if at all, it would be very unlikely that such an organisation would encourage government (it's economic competitor) to levy a tax on an already struggling private sector entity - the private press. The fact that Business Botswana is encouraging government/BDP to levy a tax on the private media, an integral part of the private sector, shows you just how "private" the sector run by Business Botswana really is.
In conclusion, it is clear that government/BDP can really NOT afford to diversify the economy of this country. They cannot afford to share economic power deriving from diamonds with anyone else. But the accolades keep coming in:- most democratic country in bla bla; upper middle income country, bla bla...
Saturday, March 5, 2016
God save our motherland!
I am sitting here, a frustrated, angry man today. When I went to bed around midnight last night, I had planned that today I would be engaged in an economic activity fifty (50) kilometers away. I was supposed to get up at six (06.00 Hrs) a.m, and drive 50 Km to my destination. But alas, that was not to be.
A "church" service, conducted all night, through a loudspeaker, kept me awake until half past five (05:30 Hrs) this morning. As I lay in bed, unable to sleep, I kept writhing and cursing all political forces that have caused my country to be what it is today: the British Imperialists for imposing their rule on our country some one and half centuries ago; the same Imperialists for imposing their son-in-law, Seretse Khama on our country as President, through a possibly rigged election some half century ago; the corrupt establishment that has inherited the privileges bestowed by Imperialism on those that it left in charge of our country when it supposedly "gave us independence and retreated" in 1966.
What makes me absolutely mad is the fact that yesterday evening, an announcement was shouted out of a loudspeaker to the effect that today there would be a meeting at the traditional administrative center, the Kgotla, to prepare for the fiftieth independence day celebrations due later this year. In other words, the government workers who traveled from Gaborone, who are paid through my taxes, were in this town/village last night, nonchalantly awaiting the attendance of a citizenry that had been deprived of sleep, right in their faces! And in Gaborone, an unconcerned President Khama was having a nice sound sleep in the Tshaba Ntsa neighbourhood where not a sound of loud music could be made any time, day or night. And not very far from him, in the Parliamentary flats, a contented Haskins Nkaigwa MP was sleeping soundly, no doubt dreaming about how he would once more bring to Parliament, his motion to declare this country a "Christian" nation. And I couldn't sleep; the Christian "Haleluya" blaring from the loudspeaker and drilling itself right through my weary brains.
You see, in a country where there are no rules enforceable by law enforcement agents, backed by law courts accessible to the vast majority of citizens (who are overwhelmingly poor), CITIZENS CEASE TO HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Whenever your rights as a citizen are violated, and you report such violation to "authorities", you are merely encouraged to write or go to the president, who "will solve all your problems". If by some miraculous stroke of luck you reach some official at the President's office, tea is put on the table. The first comment, and possibly the last, from the official is likely to be "being such an intelligent person, when are you going to join the (political) party?"
And so here I sit, fifty Km away from where I should be working, because I feared that I might capsize my vehicle on the way to work, for lack of sleep. God save our motherland!
A "church" service, conducted all night, through a loudspeaker, kept me awake until half past five (05:30 Hrs) this morning. As I lay in bed, unable to sleep, I kept writhing and cursing all political forces that have caused my country to be what it is today: the British Imperialists for imposing their rule on our country some one and half centuries ago; the same Imperialists for imposing their son-in-law, Seretse Khama on our country as President, through a possibly rigged election some half century ago; the corrupt establishment that has inherited the privileges bestowed by Imperialism on those that it left in charge of our country when it supposedly "gave us independence and retreated" in 1966.
What makes me absolutely mad is the fact that yesterday evening, an announcement was shouted out of a loudspeaker to the effect that today there would be a meeting at the traditional administrative center, the Kgotla, to prepare for the fiftieth independence day celebrations due later this year. In other words, the government workers who traveled from Gaborone, who are paid through my taxes, were in this town/village last night, nonchalantly awaiting the attendance of a citizenry that had been deprived of sleep, right in their faces! And in Gaborone, an unconcerned President Khama was having a nice sound sleep in the Tshaba Ntsa neighbourhood where not a sound of loud music could be made any time, day or night. And not very far from him, in the Parliamentary flats, a contented Haskins Nkaigwa MP was sleeping soundly, no doubt dreaming about how he would once more bring to Parliament, his motion to declare this country a "Christian" nation. And I couldn't sleep; the Christian "Haleluya" blaring from the loudspeaker and drilling itself right through my weary brains.
You see, in a country where there are no rules enforceable by law enforcement agents, backed by law courts accessible to the vast majority of citizens (who are overwhelmingly poor), CITIZENS CEASE TO HAVE ANY RIGHTS. Whenever your rights as a citizen are violated, and you report such violation to "authorities", you are merely encouraged to write or go to the president, who "will solve all your problems". If by some miraculous stroke of luck you reach some official at the President's office, tea is put on the table. The first comment, and possibly the last, from the official is likely to be "being such an intelligent person, when are you going to join the (political) party?"
And so here I sit, fifty Km away from where I should be working, because I feared that I might capsize my vehicle on the way to work, for lack of sleep. God save our motherland!
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