New Botswana leader hails Burkina Faso’s Traore

Botswana’s new president, Duma Gideon Boko, has appreciated Burkina Faso’s president, Ibrahim Traoré’s method of governing, saying it is the quickest way to development.

“Traoré, my good friend—when he wakes up with an idea, he dreams it up. By the next morning, he makes a pronouncement: it becomes law, it becomes policy, and action follows immediately. His words are obeyed instantly, without question.

But when I wake up and say something, people look at me and ask, ‘What is this man talking about?’ My words must go through multiple stages—put out to tender, the tender must be floated. That alone takes two years. Then there’s evaluation, complaints, and an interdict. Suddenly, we need another four years. By then, I must go back to the people and account for my term, and they remove me.

Those who came before me didn’t fail because they lacked ideas. They had them—maybe even better ones. But they didn’t implement them. Why? Perhaps because they failed to recognize that the existing structures are not suited to achieving swift action.

So some of these rules and processes need to be subverted—unapologetically. And I will do it. Let me tell you, here and now: I will do it within the confines of the law. And I know the law—if there’s one thing I know, it’s the law. That’s all I know.

I’m not going to waste anybody’s time. I’ll take the quick route—go straight to action.”