Of Tirade and Intimidation - Duma Boko must stop it! by Never Tshabang 13-08-2012 It is understandable that my previous article drew some criticism from some people, some friends of Duma Boko (and others not, and notably Dr Madisa Mine in Sunday Standard, Jul 24-4 August 2012). Dr Mine is worried and says it is regrettable that the article seemed to be intimidating Boko and hiding academic skeletons, than telling the public what is academia. Point taken and I must say you understand academia very well but I must also say right away that you do not understand Duma Boko very well. So I am responding to war waged by Mr Boko himself, who rubbishes academics willy-nilly and recklessly anytime he chooses to. Yes, in future I will dwell on the public role of academics and try and bring out a lot of works that we have contributed to society, be it on the plight of Basarwa, poverty eradication, Setswana dictionaries, agriculture, politics, education or health and many more, on which my colleagues have made commendable contribution. I must be the first to admit that society has every right to demand value for money for investment made in our PhDs, and we will be irresponsible if we dont respond in a manner befitting that demand by society. In my view the problem with academic works may be in communication of the works to society. It takes more detailed and professional dimension to communicate academic results to lay persons. Some academics may not be gifted in doing so, but that does not make them persons of bogus intellect. To the contrary, the issue here is not that society is demanding answers and academics have refused to offer those answers, but rather bo rre Boko want us to say what they would like to hear or that which rubs them the right side. They want to impress their public rallies by firing at us for no good reason. Therefore in the meantime I will take war to that man, but I will inject Botho in my submission, hitherto. Politicians always want us to favour them. Just to buttress this point, I recall that one pastor some days ago made remarks that one politician didnt like him, and the response by that politician was shocking, that the pastor has lost his way and he is not worth the collar and doesnt deserve the respect that society accords him. I like politicians, they respond the same way to every professional criticism! Back to academia, it is a life we know so well here, that the demands, standards and ethics are high and require far more than playing to the gallery and that those who want to play to the gallery will perish by the way side. In labelling us as useless, one mistake Mr Boko makes is that he cannot make a distinction between academia and civil activism. In civil activism one will always get media attention, and probably quick and cheap (self) gratification, but in our journey the aim is to push the boundaries of knowledge, enter new horizons and thereby contribute to the body of knowledge. The reward and recognition will take long to come, in some cases they are bestowed posthumously. If ones area happens to be covering topical issues of the day in society, we will then engage accordingly but we can only do so in a professional manner, not in a boko haram method. Regrettably, politicians always want academics to take their sides in topical political debates but that cannot happen when someone is truly an academic. It is very clear that recently some studies have rubbed Mr Boko and his beloved BNF the wrong side, which earned us Mr Presidents wrath but there is nothing much we can do about it, it comes with territory. We have to dispense our academic results and judgement with the right balance without fear or favour. It is up to Boko to take stock of himself and the organisation he is leading, without engaging in a war he cannot win. In any case it is not the first time we have been on the receiving end of a presidents fumes. Former State President Mogae once came to UB, told us off and left, but we knew where his bitterness emanated from. A lot amongst us were not favourites of his political party, government policies and his conduct as a president, which is typical of academics. We were not scared and we never changed. Even after he chased Professor Kenneth Good from Botswana the academic world continued with their business of being critical without fear or favour, and not being scared into submission. I suspect the current State President Ian Khama could not stand our nerve as he has so far only watched from a distance, appointing bo rre Ketumile Masire and Festus Mogae to be the current UB and BUIST Chancellors, respectively. One wonders how much work is there really as chancellor of two universities! This is our turf, we hold the academic power and will stand to the task as per the demands and requirements by the profession. Now, who is this Duma Boko really, to scare us into submission? A leader who cant turn the fortunes of his party around and think he can divert attention from those realities and fire at academics. No ways man! Academic freedom entitles us to critically evaluate and unpack his leadership, and eventually expose and bring his politics to the conscience of society, and if he is not careful we will dissect him beyond recognition, until we extract that which we have to find. By nature academics are critical in their discourse and do not necessarily become your loudest praise singers. Boko was one such example of anti-establishment when he was here in that unproductive decade. Now the tables have turned, he is a civic leader and he wants us to take sides with him cheaply. It wont happen. We are still in our traditional position of being critical and he is feeling the heat. I want to warn him that if he continues to talk recklessly like he does, he is going to be manna from heaven for us, no doubt about that. Mr Boko, they say if you cant stand the heat then get out of the kitchen! Make no mistake, academics are still going to have a go at you even beyond your grave, just ask Kenneth Koma and Sir Seretse Khama, we are still researching on them and making comments, neither to their like nor their followers but to the standard required of academic enquiry. Duma Boko must know that he is now a political leader and is not leading some minnow organisation or running a backyard garden project, so researchers (mainly us academics) will have huge interests in him because chances are he may fluke his way to the Presidency (god forbid!), so we have to keep noticing him, and at the same time alerting the public that he is the wrong guy, if we have to. Interestingly, UB is a serious voting block. It employs more than a thousand academic staff who have direct influence on their probably more than two thousand support staff colleagues and at least their fifteen thousand students. Politically speaking, it is amateurish to fire such broadsides to at least twenty thousand potential voters. Add their families and friends. It only takes a man who doesnt know the value of voting to risk this much. This is a big risk not only to himself but also to his political career and party. A man who has been with UB, should be endearing himself to his former colleagues and their students for support, especially when it comes to votes. The man must learn two simple key political facts, to vote and then how to endear himself to voters, rather than firing carelessly. This is not intimidation or lack of botho, but simple political teaching. Unfortunately our man has put his ego in the office, and like they say a man must not put his ego in the office because in the event the office is bombed his ego will be blown away with it. Mr Boko take care of yourself and your organisation. Talking of politics, my next article is: Duma Boko and the BNF - detached body and soul, and a vexed spirit! sundaystandard.info/article.php/email.php?NewsID=14708
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 10:09:36 +0000
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