The Vice Presidency Conundrum

One of the first thing for the president when he takes office  after being sworn in after the election is to choose a capable and good vice president. As we all ready know the Botswana Democratic Party has won the elections with 79% of the votes. Now the time has come for the President to find his deputy. A lifelong allegiance need not be an anachronism. The reasons, beyond a steadfastness, a continued determination to guide and a willingness to treat everybody equal are some of the traits that we are going to require from the new Vice President. The new Vice President will have to provide a robust and balanced advisory role to the Khama administration. So far we are sure that the last 12-18 months or so, the President has been flying his administration plane alone without some help from the vice president even any coordination input.  Basically the president has been flying blind without any proper direction. Obviously the new vice president will have to come in and unite and torn BDP, when Khama was brought in as vice president in 1998 was for the same reason but it looked like they had smoked the peace pipe, only for a little while. Here are a few names that might be front runners for the vice presidency:

Joy Phumaphi – Great choice considering that she has been away from politics since leaving for the United Nations in 2003  as Assistant Director General for Family and Community Health Department at the World Health Organisation. She later moved to the World Bank as Vice President, Human Development. She is an accomplished administrator having struck a big blow to the then President Festus Mogae when she quit her post as the Minister of Health. She had an excellent record then as she is credited with bringing the war against HIV/Aids to the fore & also the distribution of anti-retroviral drugs. She did such a sterling job that her replacements have never been able to come to the party. She is also remembered for raising the assets declaration motion in parliament which has been put on ice since she quit her post. If she comes back, it will be interesting to see if the motion will re-surface again. She could make a comeback as Vice President and either as Minister of Health or Finance as she holds a Master of Science degree in Financial Accounting and Decision Sciences from Miami University, Ohio. She brings a lot of experience to the government. My choice for the vice presidency considering that she doesn’t belong to any factions in the ruling party.

Lt Gen Mompati Merafhe – He was a great minister of foreign affairs but with all his experienced failed dismally in the past 12-18 months when he was President Ian Khama’s vice. He could have done more but he just couldn’t fill the role very well. Considering that the president is a quite person, he could have taken on more of a role as the face of the government but he just could do it. All things came to a stand still when he claimed that 1 or 2 extra judicial killings are not that bad. I personally think he could have phrased the statement different, maybe mentioning something in the line of, “we regret these killings but we will make sure investigations are carried out and the culprits are brought to the courts.” He dented all that reputation he had built with a good job at Foreign affairs. Maybe he should just be taken back to foreign affairs not the vice presidency.

Daniel Kwelagobe – DK would be a good choice if the president wants to put out the faction fires as he belongs to the much marginalised Barata-Phathi faction. This will atleast help quell the fires burning from within the BDP as they felt that the president did them a blow when he suspended Gomolemo Motswaledi. This could go a long way in helping with that. Khama regards him as a great adviser and close family friend. Khama’s father saw a great talent in DK when he plucked him from radio botswana in 1972 and took him to parliament. Lets hope the son will also see what his father saw.

Ponatshego Kedikilwe -  Another man from the marginalised Barata-Phathi faction. He is the only man from the Party to have stood against the mighty of Khama although he lost the Chairmanship of the party then. It would also go a long way in rewarding one of the longest serving administrators in Botswana Politics. He could also help kill the fires of factionalism.

Tshekedi Khama, Ramadeluka Seretse, Kitso Mokaila & the rest – Any of these three for the vice presidency would be a big surprise especially Tshekedi Khama who is the President’s younger brother as he is a new comer to politics. From the rest I am not sure who could be the vice president but politics are an unpredictable game. We will just have to wait and see. There is a fair percentage that the vice president could come from the rest.

Whoever will be vice president is going to have their plate full as they will have to get a hands on approach into the new administration & its not going to be an easy ride.