If it is good for Botswana, it should be good for us too
The Government owned daily newspaper Seychelles Nation, announcing the arrival of the President of Botswana for a state visit during our official National Day (June 18) described Botswana as: “…one of the most prosperous countries in Africa with a GDP per capita of around US$ 11,000. The Republic of Botswana prides itself on being a stable country with an excellent record of accomplishments of good governance thereby creating a positive business environment. It has a history of political stability, a well-developed legal system, effective macro-economic management policies, a growing number of well-educated people as well as good communication infrastructures”.
Political stability means that politicians in Botswana did not organise a coup d’etat in order to come to power, to create a one party state, unlike our two last presidents Albert Rene and James Michel. The predecessor of President Mogae (the President of Botswana) served his term and left office honourably and in dignity. He is currently an elder statesman of Africa.
In fact, our country had never been more unstable than during the one party state. Yet today in Seychelles, James Michel wants to convince the world that the mere exercise of a fundamental right to political dissent (guaranteed by our Constitution) by the supporters and leaders of a freely established political party is an attempt at fomenting political instability, which has to be suppressed using riot police bearing batons and rubber bullets.
Botswana’s record of accomplishments in “good governance” means that the politicians in power did not line their pockets with the money the people left in their trust. They have been accountable to their people. This is what is known as Good Governance. In fact, Botswana’s earnings on foreign exchange reserves built up over the years from the sale of diamonds now generate more revenue than the proceeds of the export of fresh diamonds., diamonds in Botswana is like our tuna. Diamonds are mined by foreigners. However, unlike Botswana’s diamonds, our tuna brings very little to the Seychelles compared to its market value, after nearly 30 years of exploitation by foreigners.
Although Botswana has substantial foreign reserves, its currency – the Pula is directly linked with the South African Rand; although Botswana’s foreign currency reserves per inhabitant is greater than that of South Africa. It is fully convertible and is valued against a basket of currencies heavily weighted toward the South African Rand. Profits and direct investment can be repatriated without restriction from Botswana. The Botswana Government eliminated all exchange controls in 1999. The Central Bank devalued the Pula by 7.5% in February 2004 in a bid to maintain export competitiveness against the real appreciation of the Pula. There was a further 12% devaluation in May 2005.
Here in Seychelles our government would not, for many years, countenance devaluation to restore the competitiveness of our main export – tourism.
Nation tells us too, that Botswana is a success story because it has a well-developed legal system. In other words, in Botswana everyone - foreigners and locals alike, trust the judiciary. Surely, this trust could only have been earned. In Seychelles, we recently kicked out a foreign judge from our court of appeal because he was seen as not corrupt and would not do the bidding of those in power. Ironically, that judge subsequently took up a job in the judiciary of Botswana. Just last week, our President appointed one of his political cronies, to replace the judged that had been kicked out, as President of our court of appeal. How can anyone truly trusts in the impartiality of our judiciary with this type of politics?
Seychelles nation also tells us that Botswana is an economic success story because it has effective macro-economic management policies. What this means, in practice is that the Government of Botswana always operate a balanced budget. A balanced budget is one where actual government expenditures do not exceed revenues. However, that does not mean there is no poverty in Botswana. One third of the 1.6 million people in Botswana still live on less than 2 dollars a day. The politicians in Botswana could easily have spent all its diamond earnings building houses and giving them away to the people. Yet Botswana’s electorate continue to re-elect the same politicians that are not giving away houses for votes. The government as well as the people of Botswana know that poverty can only be eliminated when the whole country prospers. A country prospers when it creates wealth on a sustainable basis.
However, Seychelles Nation, tried hard to equate some of the successes of Botswana with that of Seychelles with the impression that it emulated Seychelles in some way. For example, it went on to state “Similar to Seychelles, the Government of Botswana has consistently invested its revenues in the development of health and education.” The facts, however, speak for themselves.
Unlike Seychelles, in Botswana today there is no shortage of drugs. X-rays and other equipment always work when needed in their hospitals. Yet unlike Seychelles, which ranks 57 on the scale of the United Nations Human Development Index, Botswana ranks 131. The fact is, of course, some of the factors contributing to our high standing on the index have nothing to do with government spending. It has more to do with the size of our population and territory and the fact that we are islands. In Botswana, for example only 90% of the people have access to primary health care within its locality, for a country the size of France but with only 1.6 million people.
Botswana is enduring an AIDS pandemic but is coping rather well according to all reckonings, thanks to the honesty of its past politicians who took care of the nation’s wealth rather than steal it, which is now serving the people in their hour of need. Here in Seychelles, the large foreign exchange reserves which existed on 5th June 1977, has been frittered away. Instead, we have created the largest external debt in the world per head of population, as well as the largest public debt – over 200% of the value of our Gross Domestic Product or total output.
Bostwana’s school system remains the same today, as it was before independence in 1966. That counts for stability too. The same school system in Botswana existed in Seychelles before 5th June 1977 also. Unlike Botswana, however, we uprooted that system to replace it with a Marxist indoctrination camp of sombre faces. Only a decade and a half later, when we decided to abandon it and return to the old system, did we realise that we did not have the money to build the new schools. We have borrowed heavily over the past decade and a half to build fine school buildings. Fine school buildings do not deliver good education. Neither can we deliver good education when more than 10% of your teachers have no qualifications and the rest mediocre qualifications acquired during the one party state. Today in Seychelles, many of those who are teaching the new generation have only the same level of education they are trying to help their students acquire. This is the concept of the blind leading the blind.
Nation tells us that Botswana has good communication infrastructure, meaning, good roads and the latest telecommunication system. Botswana, however, is a landlocked country, unlike Seychelles, which is in an ocean. Botswana relies on the vagaries of its neighbours to trade with the rest of the world. Only a decade and a half ago its most important and largest neighbour, apartheid South Africa, was under UN economic sanctions. That could not have been good for Botswana. Until only a few years ago one could not fly to Botswana directly. Its liberal economic policies, however, served it well under those trying times.
On 5th June 1977 – Seychelles too had good communication infrastructure. The same commercial port, which receives our imports and dispatches our exports today, was there in 1977. The international airport also was there in 1977 and so have the same extent of main roads, electricity and water. The telecommunication system of Seychelles in 1977 was at par with that of the rest of the developed world – and probably more advanced that Botswana’s then.
Yet, in spite of the natural advantage of being in an ocean, we have fallen behind. Today, Seychelles does not have direct shipping connections with the countries that are the origins of our imports. Yet without imports, our country would not be an economically viable entity. What was once the most modern port in the region (Victoria) is fast becoming ancient as other ports modernise to accommodate the containerisation of ocean freight, which has become the norm today? Soon other ports in the region will take away our advantage in tuna transhipment. The airlines of the countries from where 80% of our tourists originate no longer fly to Seychelles, considering that we increased the number of tourists from 800 in 1971 to over 50,000 in 1977 without our having our own airline.
