The list of Cabinet ministers who have been called upon to act as President is growing steadily. This year alone, Batswana have seen a succession of familiar faces temporarily assume the country’s highest office as President Duma Boko and Vice President Ndaba Gaolathe travelled abroad, separately.
Moeti Mohwasa has done it. Prince Maele has done it. Nelson Ramaotwana has done it. We may have lost count as to how many. The frequency with which acting appointments are being made has turned what is ordinarily an exceptional constitutional arrangement into a recurring feature of governance.
There is, of course, nothing unlawful about this. The Constitution provides for continuity in government when the President and Vice President are unavailable. The machinery of state continues to function, decisions are made, and the business of government proceeds uninterrupted.
The issue is not who acts. The ministers entrusted with the responsibility are senior members of government and have discharged their duties without any serious controversy. Rather, the issue is the growing normalisation of leadership by proxy.
Yet the pattern may raise questions about priorities, optics and administration. Foreign travel is an important part of modern statecraft. The government must engage investors, strengthen diplomatic ties and participate in regional and international forums. But when both the President and Vice President are repeatedly absent at the same time, the public is entitled to ask whether such arrangements are always necessary.
The issue is not who acts. The ministers entrusted with the responsibility are senior members of government and have discharged their duties without any serious controversy. Rather, the issue is the growing normalisation of leadership by proxy.
A government elected on promises of accountability and transparency should have little difficulty explaining the purpose, duration and outcomes of official travel.
Batswana deserve to know what is being gained from these frequent journeys and whether the benefits justify the increasingly familiar sight of yet another minister occupying the Presidential chair.
