EDITORIAL: When opposition becomes government

Developments in neighbouring Zambia and, to some extent, Botswana should give opposition parties across Africa pause for thought.

Opposition leaders are traditionally sold to voters as alternatives to entrenched ruling elites. They campaign on the promise of doing things differently, governing better and, importantly, deepening democracy.

But what happens when the opposition finally gets its turn and begins to resemble the establishment it once condemned?

Zambia provides a particularly uncomfortable example. President Hakainde Hichilema spent years in opposition and was arrested 17 times, including being subjected to severe imprisonment and solitary confinement. He was an outspoken critic of the treatment of political opponents, arguing that no democracy worthy of the name should treat its rivals in such a manner.

Now in government, however, reports from Zambia indicate that opposition leader Brian Mundubile has been arrested and charged with treason.

If true, this is deeply troubling. It raises the uncomfortable question of whether power changes the principles of those who acquire it. The treatment Hichilema once condemned as undemocratic should not suddenly become acceptable simply because the political jerseys have changed.

In Botswana, President Duma Boko came to power as an opposition leader promising, among other things, to create 100,000 jobs within his first year. When confronted by South Africa's eNCA TV about the failure to meet that target, he limped from one justification to another.

Promises made from opposition benches eventually collide with budgets, bureaucracies, economic realities and the limitations of government itself.

Citizens vote for opposition parties because they believe the alternatives will govern better than those they seek to replace. They expect stronger economies, cleaner government, greater accountability and deeper respect for democratic freedoms.

When those expectations are repeatedly disappointed, voters become cynical about change itself.

They begin to conclude that perhaps it’s better to live with the devil they know.