ABSTRACT
A school is the only place with a formal and legitimate mandate of duty of care for the learner. Schools are expected to be nurturing environments free of abuse, exploitation, violence, bullying, humiliation, discrimination, harassment, negligence, cultural stereotypes, emotional distress, socio-economic marginalisation and moral prejudices. Some concerns about governance and ethical leadership in schools are therefore inevitable. Drawing from the Eurocentric and Afrocentric theoretical perspectives, this article discusses lapses of ethical leadership practices in Botswana with a deliberate focus on school leadership systems. Secondary data is drawn from the media and government reported cases on the growing systemic social decadence. It is argued that unethical conduct in the education system in the country is heightened by lack of an Africanized ethical code of conduct for educators and double-dipping by the public officers. The article recommends an indigenized research approach on ethical leadership and governance.
Key words: Afrocentrism, eurocentrism, ethical leadership, code of conduct, good governance, indigenized research, Ubuntu/Botho.
Until 2019, Botswana, a sovereign state in Southern Africa which is a former British colony that obtained self-rule in 1966, used to be described as the world’s leading record of a shining example of democracy in Africa. The perceptions about the success story of this democracy attributed this world rating to good governance. The 2019 democracy and governance perception index reduce Botswana from this perception record to where only 58% of the citizenry felt that the country was going in the right direction. This drastic U-turn in perceptions towards socio-economic and political development motivates this article to reflect on governance practices in all sectors of the country’s economy. It explores mainly ‘ethical leadership’ challenge as a critical component of governance in the socio-economic development of Botswana, and school leadership practices. Even then, the discussion limits itself to ethical leadership as experienced in school governance. It is mainly a desk-based approach, informed by current official and media reports and associated literature about Botswana.
Concerns about governance and ethical leadership in education and in schools are inevitable, given that the school is the only place with a formal and legitimate mandate of duty of care for the delicate growing and developing person - the learner. The school is, therefore, a critical place in the process of human capital development in any society. In all its functionalities, a school is required to ensure that all its clientele are placed in an operationally nurturing environment that is free of risks against and from exposure to abuse, exploitation, violence, bullying, humiliation, discrimination, harassment, negligence, cultural stereotypes, emotional distress, socio-economic marginalisation and moral prejudices. Despite this being a legitimate social expectation of the functionality of a school, on the contrary the media is littered with stories of the existence of moral decay in the standards of ethical leadership and governance in schools. Like in many other sectors of the economy, schools find themselves under dictatorial leadership (Jesperson, 1992), leadership with endemic corruption (Klitgaard, 1988), dysfunctional leadership with unethical concessions, leadership that promotes bad followership (Chigbu, 2011) and leadership that has become part of the evil socio-political and economic cohesion (Good, 2009; Jawondo, 2011).
Objectives of the discussion
This discussion, therefore, seeks to critically review ethical leadership lapses in the Botswana context with specific and deliberate focus on school leadership systems. The objectives are to:
1) Conceptualize ethical leadership, governance and good governance;
2) Position Botswana’s development in the theoretical perspectives of ethical leadership practices;
3) Identify and explore cases of ethical leadership lapses in Botswana schools;
4) Motivate further research on ethical leadership in schools.
LITERATURE ON GOVERNANCE AND ETHICAL LEADERSHIP
One of the core characteristics shared by successful organizations is their ability to recognize effective leaders and harness them in order to maximize results (Miller, 2014). In other words, no organization can grow to its full potential without effective leadership. A major differentiating factor between an effective and ineffective leader is the nature and quality of governance. This is so because governance plays a very important role in fostering shared aims, collective commitment and accountability, and in providing strategic direction for leaders (Lord et al., 2009). The concept of governance and the practices of good governance need to be understood and appreciated. Understanding governance is dependent on the angle from which one approaches it. It can be explored from a functional perspective where one tries to understand it as processes and procedures in leadership and management. It can be approached from characterizing behavior of those in leadership and management against results. This discussion tries to adopt a more neutral position so that both angles are accommodated to strengthen the conceptualization of governance in terms of general functional conceptualization and regarding its processes and practices.
In terms of functionality, governance, according to Fukuyama (2013), is the ability to make and enforce rules and to deliver services, regardless of whether the process is democratic or not. This definition opens doors for dictatorship, the processes to which are enforcement of practices that do not follow democratic procedures. Following the same line of thinking, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) (n. d.) defines governance as the work of making and implementing (or not implementing) decisions. It generally deals with the procedures and processes put in place to enhance accountability, management and direction of an organization. One key term that is inherent in this functional definition of governance is ‘decision making’. The ability of a leader to make the right decisions is what differentiates good governance from bad governance. The African Development Bank (as cited in Gaisselquist, 2012) defines good governance as one that combats corruption and promotes enabling and judicial framework, accountability, participation and transparency. Following the same line of thinking, UNESCAP (n. d.) defines good governance as one that is transparent, inclusive, equitable, efficient, responsive, effective, consensus oriented, participatory and accountable. So, good governance is characterized by desire to achieve zero tolerance for corruption, and improved open participation of all the stakeholders in decision-making.
With regard to processes and practices, a critical vehicle for fostering good governance and for achieving organizational goals is a leadership style grounded in ethical norms and practices (Okagbue, 2012) that introduces morality as a core leadership (Zaleha and Rashidah, 2014). The type of leadership that is cognizant of moral standards is characterized as ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is a human behaviour respected and valued for being character building focused, ethically aware, team interest orientated, truthful, unselfish, civil minded and trustworthy (Sharmini et al., 2018). From a similar school of thought, Komal and Sheher (2015) perceive ethical leadership as one that is characterized by integrity, fairness, role clarification, power sharing, concern for others and concern for sustainability. However, following another line of thinking, Shacklock and Lewis (2006) view ethical leadership as the creation and fulfillment of opportunities that are worthwhile using means that are deemed honourable. From the foregoing and as indicated by several studies (Eranil and Ozbilen, 2017; Okagbue, 2012; Sharmini et al., 2018), it is imminent that ethical leadership can serve as a tool for effective leadership, given the view that it promotes good governance. Ethical leadership would be rated above others as it is based on the individual character that is led by example and always cares about other’s wellbeing. It contains powerful intrinsic behaviour traits which are rare to be displayed by most leaders of this era. For instance, truthfulness, unselfishness and trustworthiness are hardly displayed by most leaders as those in leadership positions have the tendency of believing that they are there because of competency and infallibility, and are therefore, indifferent to the contributions for the success of the organization. For purposes of the focus of this discussion, it is worth conceptualizing ethical leadership concerns in schools.
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP CONCERNS IN SCHOOLS
A school is a critical centre of human socialization. Its unique legitimate responsibility is to develop and/or transmit worth-while knowledge of morality and skills of ethical conduct to learners, who are potentially true miracles of life. The moral knowledge and skills of ethical standards, such as sex education, drug awareness and conflict resolution, need to be transmitted within the confines of set humane parameters influenced by emerging mores, diverse morals and conflicting values (Saldana, 2013). However, with rising incidences and cases of immoralities in the human society, ethics need to be taken very seriously in schools. This is fundamentally desirable because teachers and school leaders do not only face ethical problems, but they are also responsible for whether the next generations will be educated properly to be moral people or not (Mukadder et al., 2017). The school leader is, therefore, a moral agent of socialization and is expected to play a major role in establishing and sustaining an ethical and moral climate in the school (Sabre et al., 2015). There is a need for school leaders to discharge their leadership duties in an ethical manner. It is a position that education leadership policy statements of many countries need to highlight unambiguously and conspicuously. However, the ability of school leaders to discharge their duties in an ethical manner is continuing to be a major source of concern, especially in the face of rising incidents and cases of unethical conduct in schools. This section, therefore, examines the concerns of ethical leadership in the international, regional and Botswana context.
International perspective
This sub-section assumes that the United States (US), Australia and England are among the leading developed economies which have policies and systems of ethical standards that emerging nation states can benchmark from. It is assumed that these countries have advanced education policies which anchored on values and the importance of ethics in the education systems. For example, Utah, a state in the United States (US) in strand five (5) of the “Utah State Standards for Educational Leadership” argues that leaders in the education sector must modify ethical leadership and promote professional attributes of integrity, fairness, transparency, and trust (Utah Educational Leadership Toolkit 5, 2019). In Australia, one popular policy for ethical leadership is the code of ethics drafted in 2005 by Victorian Institute of Teaching for schools in Victoria State. This policy instrument forms a basis of code of conduct and it is not a disciplinary tool, but a tool for guidance in the decision-making process (Forster, 2012). Unlike the US and Australia, England has a single code of conduct for the whole nation. The ethical principles reflected in the code include honesty, truth, transparency, accountability, fairness, democratic governance, and personal and systems improvement. However, compared to the codes of conduct for teachers in other countries with similar systems (for example, Ireland) and other parts of the United Kingdom (for example, Scotland), the codes of conduct in England lay less emphasis on internal ethical values of teachers and more on observing the rules of the school and statutory regulation (Maria and Valts, 2017).
Despite the well-crafted policy statements in these advanced countries, cases of unethical behaviour have continued to rise daily. A study conducted by Ethics Resource Center in the United States of America in 2008 reveals that at least 57 percent of government employees reported that they witnessed violations of policies, laws or ethical standards in their place of work in a period of 12-months, and that a third of these violations were not reported (Cheteni and Shindika, 2017). These violations were in form of sexual harassment, unfair treatment of workers, misquoting work hours and even violations of privacy. A recent report by Pagones (2020) on how a teacher poisoned 25 kindergartners out of revenge shows that globally, the question of ethics has remained far from being brushed away. Apart from lack of clear implementation framework, other gaps inherent in ethical leadership policies in these developed countries are lack of ownership, rules without aspirational value statement and creating policies that are not embedded in professional culture.
African perspective
African nation-states are a product of the colonial craft. Their development policies and systems are one way or the other aligned to the colonial culture of development. This is more so because the emergence of globalization, neo-liberalism and market economy as a Eurocentric economic model of development has disrupted the Afrocentric social development approach of Ubuntu or Botho in Setswana language (Pansiri et al., 2021). Pansiri et al. (2021:173) argue that the Ubuntu theory is a “humane approach known for ethical social practice, collective communal leadership and good governance”. Since the adoption of the Eurocentrism and its related education systems and policies, ethical leadership is also a major concern in African schools. Studies of Africa have frequently shown the prevalence of weak and failed/failing states (Bah, 2012). As a consequence, most of such countries experience huge corruption and misappropriation of public funds (Atuobi, 2007; Ojo, 2018). Failing state governance systems were experienced in countries such as Eritrea, Malawi, Cameroon, Uganda and Sierra Leone when central governments became weak, and governments failed to raise revenue. Corruption and criminality became rampant and sharp economic decline was felt. As for the failed states such as Somalia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria, there was breakdown in democratic dispensations, allowing African continent to be dominated by brutal self-serving dictators who abused power, sometimes preferring to use violence to compensate for lack of popular support (Cheeseman, 2015). These failed states had government that lost control over their sovereignty, lost legitimacy to perform functions of governance that include management of public service, lost integrity to interact with other states as full members of the regional or international community. However, both failing and failed states fall into a category of failing democracies. The failing democracies can be attributed partly to unethical leadership within governance structures. Of course, due to the dictates of Eurocentrism which is regulated by globalization, neo-liberalism and market and money economy (Pansiri et al., 2021), there are also external forces that disturbed internal workings of organizational systems such as those witnessed due to Post September 2011 events in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan (Brinkerhoff and Brinkerhoff, 2002), where the Western powers caused chaos in these countries under the pretext of fighting Islamic insurgents. Once state failure occurs, inevitably all state functionaries and institutions including schools are affected.
Just like in more advanced countries, different and less advanced countries in the Africa region have well formulated policies for ethical leadership in schools to reduce negative impact of failing democracies. One popular policy is the School of Management and Leadership programme rolled out by the Department of Education in South Africa (SA) in 2007 aimed at creating a school leadership that is dynamic, ethical and competent to the ever changing educational climate (Kgomotlokoa et al., 2016). However, a report by Naidoo (2015) reveals that teachers, principals, union members and departmental officials in SA have all been cited in different reports and research studies regarding unethical conduct in the Department of Education. This is further confirmed in a report by Head (2017) on how a teacher in Durban, a region in SA was suspended after his intimate relationship with a 14-year-old Grade 9 pupil went public. In Nigeria, Chapter four of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) codes of conduct states that academic/administrative leaders should act as sources of inspiration and motivation, and they should exhibit charisma, foresight, justice, empathy, self-respect, selflessness, honesty, consistency and moral-uprightness in their services (TRCN Code of Conduct, 2013). Despite this, concerns on ethical leadership in schools in the country have continued to rise. This is exacerbated by different reports in the media. For example, a report by Oramadike (2020) reveals the involvement of about forty-one (41) teachers in examination malpractice in a state in Nigeria. These worrying reports from Africa’s powerful economies (South Africa and Nigeria), show that ethical leadership policies are far from being implemented in the continent. The policies are further marred by lack of ownership since education leaders view these policies as rules and regulation that are to be obeyed rather than seeing them as the right thing to do.
Botswana perspective
At independence in 1966, Botswana adopted a development theory guided by four national principles namely democracy, unity, development and self-reliance. Along the Eurocentric economic theoretical model of development (Pansiri et al., 2021), Botswana gradually expanded liberal economic development model that allows the growth of the private sector. The concept of private partnership emerged and grew rapidly. Pansiri et al. (2021:182) argue that the Eurocentrism which is “driven by … [stiff] competitive, harsh and rapid technological growth and associated markets and industry economy poses a threat to Ubuntu, the Afrocentric theory of social development”. Botswana, like any African nation-state, aggressively and inevitably transformed from the egalitarian social development practices cultured by communal values of Ubuntu to competitive formation of the money and market economy.
With rapid population growth and related rising cases of youth unemployment, Botswana introduced and encouraged entrepreneurship. The market and money-economy funding schemes such as National Development Bank (NDP) and Financial Assistance Policy (FAP) were introduced to facilitate employment creation and entrepreneurship with the desire to fulfill economic and political theory of citizen economic empowerment. To provide regulatory oversight, and ensure compliance to ethical conduct, Botswana set up a Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). It is worth noting here that in 2008, Botswana introduced “Botho” or “Ubuntu” as one of the principles of development. This was in realization that the known social codes of development needed to be embraced in new practices of entrepreneurial economic development. The principle was also introduced at a time when the country experienced signs and symptoms of defective leadership and elements of moral decay in public service. Under the pressure of trade unions which was leaning more towards the opposition political formations and in fear of change of government, the country through Public Service Management Directive No. 8 of 2014 Review of Condition of Service for Public Service decided to “allow Public Service employees to engage in private business…” (Republic of Botswana, 2014:1). The related implementation guidelines were issued to regulate public officers’ participation in private business, and performances in paid work outside official employment during or outside working hours. Inevitably, this encouraged public officers to have interest in becoming entrepreneurs, a trap quite attractive to conflict of interest and unethical practices, let alone corruption. The implementation and implications of this directive on ethical conduct of the Public Service, governance and ethical leadership are yet to be critically explored. This point will, however, be reflected later in this discussion.
The country has gone through many programmes, extended the spirit of democratic governance that exists at the macro-political level ethical leadership in the country to schools. Efforts to achieve this are being made partly through the School Management Manual which encourages school leadership to promote good working relationships as well as to establish high morale among the staff (Moswela, 2007). Programmes such as the School Development Plan (SDP) were also introduced with emphasis on transparency, collegiality, partnership, shared decision making, mutual trust and respect for each other’s opinion and a common purpose (Moswela, 2007). These are important attributes of ethical leadership. Despite the government’s emphasis on ethical leadership, concerns about it in schools continue to rise.
Otukile et al. (2020) argue that there were problems of identity crisis and marginalization, a kind of ethical scandal that learners are subjected to in schools in Botswana. Both teaching staff and learners were found to be living in fear or felt insecure, seeking attention, and calling for equal treatment. These emerging challenges could be due to little or no effort being made to ensure that leadership in schools was carried out in an ethical manner by those at the helm of affairs. It is, however, critical to position good governance and ethical leadership into appropriate theoretical lenses.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE
Models of development can be placed under two contradictory positions. There is the Eurocentric economic model. This model is regulated by imperialism, globalization, neo-liberalism, market and money-economy. It has values of stiff competition, greed, individualism, jealousy and competition and is susceptible to conflict and anti-social uprisings. On the other hand, there is the Afrocentric model of “Ubuntu/Botho”. This model is defined by the culture of humanness/humanism, egalitarianism, collectivization, communalism, justice, honesty and ethical behaviour, equality and equity in resource distribution. It is an African human social development approach that cherishes engagement and success for all. Both models (Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism) have had their formal and informal governance orders and codes for which those in leadership positions should apply themselves. However, Africanism of humanness (Ubuntu/Botho) is stronger for social justice communalism. This perspective fits arguments by Olivier (2012) and Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011) on social justice, appropriate organizational leadership that embraces every member of an organization.
The theoretical roots of governance are many, ranging from organizational studies, political science, international relations and institutional economics, to public administration among others (Stoker, 2019) but cannot be divorced from alignment to either Eurocentric or Afrocentric models. However, the demand for effective management and leadership since the first industrial revolution and the models of scientific management by Frederick Winslow Taylor and bureaucratic management by Max Weber in different quarters has led to a shift in focus from mere governance to good governance of emerging formal institutions and/or organizations. Since then, the Eurocentric model with its colonial characteristics dominated institutional leadership practices.
Africa has had its defined ethics and morals of leadership. Botswana’s regard for ethics and morals in leadership is very much reflected in the Setswana culture and traditions of Botho/Ubuntu that dates as far back as the 19th century.
This was clearly illustrated by Denbow and Thebe (2006) that communities in Botswana are governed through an institution known as the Kgotla, (Setswana’s indigenous society’s regulating institution) where matters of economic or political importance to the family or community are discussed. Different segments are in turn grouped around that of the leadership institution known as Kgosi (king) who presides over Kgotla. Under Kgosi, ethics and morals were for social justice and were an embodiment of egalitarianism, collectivization, communalism, reciprocity, dignity, freedom and social harmony. A sense of belonging to a regent or Mophato in Setswana was part of the community organizational structure. Mophato is a regent of people of the same age whose main social and community contract and commitment was to stand for the values of the society, community wealth, and protection of all members of the community against abuse, hunger and enemy. They were men and women who were prepared to serve their community and cherish values of collective consciousness. So, Mophato members were trained on social and physical skills of compassion and helpfulness, kindness and caring, generosity and sharing and societal integrity and respect (Khoza, 2011). Each Mophato was responsible for social and community development as a collective and built peaceful and united sustainable society characterized by the desire and spirit of connectedness. Values of stiff competition, greed and individualism were not encouraged. This is the Africanized model of ethical leadership that has kept African societies intact until Eurocentrism. Eurocentrism with power of colonization disrupted Africanized model (Ubuntu/Botho) of ethical leadership and replaced it with neoliberal economic perspectives of unstoppable industrial revolution, globalization, market and money economy, trade and values of stiff competition, individual wealth accumulation and of course, conflicts of interest among people and trading partners. This disruption inevitably changed the landscape of Africanized model of ethical leadership. Community leaders or Kgosi lost social leadership control and value systems. Eurocentric politics and economic development preoccupied terms and conditions of social development. Market and money economy controls leadership cultures. Governance models and ethical leadership in any organization, including schools are trapped by this Eurocentric model. This model provides better lenses for which one should appreciate lapses on ethical leadership in the African development setup.
DISCUSSING ETHICAL LEADERSHIP LAPSES IN BOTSWANA
Lapses of ethical leadership in Botswana governance system
From a Eurocentric measure and microscope, the independent Botswana has been perceived and described as the darling of democracy and good governance in Africa. This is due to the country’s known prudent financial and economic management, and exceptionally enviable governance operational structures in both the private and public sector. These perceptions were however put to test. Some literature (Good, 1994; Keorapetse and Keakopa, 2012) cast aspersions over the perceptions and concluded that the perception were camouflaged realities despite the existence of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). Keorapetse and Keakopa (2012:27-32) argue that “corruption in Botswana is becoming ominously widespread”, with cases of “bribery, conflict of interest, fraud, embezzlement, theft of government assets, money laundering, tax evasion, and abuse of office”, orchestrated by high-ranking officials in political and administrative leadership in partnership with key executives in the private sector and/or entrepreneurship. They recommended that Botswana should consider promulgating suitable polices and/or laws to ward off these cases of corruption. On the contrary, in 2014 through the Public Service Management Directive no 8 of 2014, Botswana introduced and legitimized a system that allows public officers to become entrepreneurs, quite likely making them inevitably more vulnerable to the trap of corruption and other behaviours of unethical conduct than before.
Some recent events in Botswana point to the fact that describing Botswana as the darling of democracy and good governance in Africa is rather said than done. The media is littered with stories of ethical scandals in governance system. Prominent among these events is the leadership contradiction between the current President Dr. Mokgweetsi Keabetswe Masisi and his predecessor, President Lieutenant General Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, which is referred in this discussion as the Masisi-Khama feud. Media stories do show that the quest to consolidate power is the major cause of this feud. As argued by Morton (2019), President Masisi was no longer willing to tolerate the widespread corruption that flourished under his predecessor and this led to the prosecution of the former President Khama’s security chief and presidential secretary for alleged corruption. Mokone (2018), reports that Khama allegedly awarded lucrative tenders to Seleka Springs, a company owned by his brother. This allegation leads suspicion of a case of nepotism which is against everything that ethical leadership stands for. It is argued that the Masisi-Khama feud evolved into a political battle that led Khama to leave the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in order to disrupt their sustained stay in government through alliances with opposition political parties (Ntshingane, 2019). In the words of Saleshando (2019), the Masisi-Khama feud denied Botswana the opportunity to maturely reflect on the policy proposal presented by the contesting parties, and shifted attention from issues such as creation of employment, decent lives, better quality healthcare and education, and affected the reputation of Botswana on the global stage. Leaving such feud unchecked can result to intolerance which is not typical of ethical leadership. Currently, media reports show that Khama is seeking help from the courts of law to be compensated at the tune of P25 million for reputational damage (Baaitse, 2021). On the other hand, Gabathuse (2020) presents an interview record in which a certain University of Botswana (UB) lecturer, Adam Mfundisi, argues that there is heightened corruption since President Masisi ascended power. This feud of the two most powerful figures raises a lot of questions about “Botho” and quality of ethical leadership in Botswana. It is, therefore, argued here that this Khama-Masisi feud shows that democracy and ethical leadership are far-fetched in Botswana, and if no successful intervention and remedy is found, Botswana is likely to degenerate into the category of a failing state.
The State of Emergency (SoE) declared, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic shows that ethical and democratic leadership is claimed to be practiced in Botswana because of the strict laws and not because leaders see them as the right thing to do. After the declaration of six months state of emergency, President Masisi assured Batswana that he will not rule the country by decree which will diminish the values of freedom and other enshrined rights that have made Botswana unique (BW government, 2020). However, in April 2020, he was accused of using the pandemic to crack down on government and media critics (Monitor, 2020). This assertion is backed by several instances in the citations in this article. For example, a certain Rakkie Kelesamine, a school teacher, was arrested after challenging a claim by government that a social worker in parliament tested positive for Covid-19. On another case, a spokesperson of an opposition party was arrested and charged for allegedly maligning and degrading leadership in a Facebook post. There are several concerns over the ability of journalists to freely undertake their work as evidenced by a raid by Directorate of Security Services (DIS) on journalists, an action that was termed by civil society organizations as ‘intimidation and harassment’, and a direction quite likely towards the trap of a failing state. These media reports indicate that democracy and ethical leadership are far from being the bedrock of Botswana society.
Ethical leadership lapses in Botswana schools
As regards specifics on education, Good (1994) reveals that the malpractice in the award of International Project Managers consultancy known as the IPM consultancy to supply of teaching materials to public primary schools led to more than one million-Pula (Botswana currency = P1 000 000-00) loss in misallocation and delivery of books. This, therefore, means that schools and learners became victims in the process. Furthermore, the school system in Botswana is rocked by incidents of learner identity crisis, marginalization, exclusion (Pansiri, 2011; Marumo and Pansiri, 2016; Otukile et al., 2020), corporal punishment and sexual misconduct (Tafa, 2002; Polelo, 2005; Khudu-Petersen, 2010; Jonas, 2012; Jotia and Pansiri, 2013), corruption and maladministration (Baputaki, 2009; Serite, 2018; Kabelo, 2021). A report by Riddoch and Riddoch (2004) reveals that most of the staff in tertiary institutions in Botswana put little effort in course content, rarely revise syllabus and sometimes plagiarize course outlines and course content. Diraditsile and Rankopo (2018), show that sexual abuse of students exists in Botswana schools, and that many of the female students are negatively affected by this troubling reality.
These revelations point to the fact that school leaders are not doing enough in ensuring that their leadership practices are ethical. This unethical conduct in public service is worrisome even to the law makers.
In the latest revelation, the 2021 Budget Session of Botswana Parliament was informed that in the past five years, the country’s Public Service dismissed seven hundred and twenty-seven (727) employees due to cases of unethical conduct (Republic of Botswana, 2021). These cases were recorded during the implementation of the Public Service Management Directive no 8 of 2014, which legitimized public officers to double dip as civil servants as well as entrepreneurs. So, questions about the implication on this policy action on ethical leadership and “Botho” can arise. Out of these dismissals, the Ministry of Basic Education had the second largest dismissals with one hundred and thirty-four (134) mainly school-based cases. The cases are related to theft, persistent absence from work, rape, amorous relationship with students and desertion.
A review of Botswana unethical conduct in schools reveals growing concerns about teacher-student romances in senior secondary schools. For example, the Director of Teaching Service Management (TSM) is reported to have a teacher at Masunga Senior Secondary School investigated following proved complaints about teacher-student romances (Gabathuse, 2008). In another development, two female students at Swaneng Hill School (a senior secondary school) are reported to have fought and injured each other profusely over a male teacher at Boipelego Junior Secondary School (Letsididi, 2009). In terms of unethical teacher leadership conduct, Mathambo (2012) wrote a story about some Maun Senior Secondary School students who burnt the school, protesting student-teacher love affairs.
In terms of theft and maladministration, a certain Oriel School is reported as having Botswana General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) results investigated for cheating because of alleged suspicions of examination maladministration (Baputaki, 2009). Basimanebotlhe (2017) also wrote about a case of embezzlement in a certain school in the country. According to the author, an inter-ministerial audit at Anne-Stine school uncovered a startling business operation wherein the former board had opened a micro lending scheme with interest set at 20%. In another case, Serite (2018) wrote a story relating to Morale Junior Secondary School head who was accused of fueling corruption and maladministration through her alleged favouritism and discriminatory leadership. In the latest report, Dipholo (2021) wrote about a deputy primary school head at Mokane Primary School who was left with egg on his face after the police arrested him for stealing cooking oil from his school for personal use. These reported cases show education leadership moral standards in decay, a total contradiction of Africanity of “Botho” leadership practice.
This article has demonstrated a contradiction between Eurocentrism and Afrocentrism theories of development and their influence in growing systemic social decadence in the entire fabric of development in Botswana, as well as in increasing cases of unethical conduct in schools. Like any nation-state, Botswana development model is inevitably informed by a Eurocentric theory which is regulated by imperialism, globalization, neo-liberalism, market and money-economy. Greed and personal accumulation are consequential motivators for human satisfaction. Public officers’ double-dipping, which is, doing civil service and entrepreneurship in government offices, may not escape the trap of both systematic and systemic development of unethical conduct in the civil service.
The rise in cases of unethical behaviour, the Botswana leadership feud and glaring revelation of the dismissed seven hundred and twenty-seven (727) public service employees due to cases of unethical conduct, in a space of five years, attest to a systemic abhorrent leadership social decadence growing in Botswana. The many recent reported stories about deteriorating ethical standards in schools are also a cause for concern that needs urgent attention to develop codes of moral standards for ethical leadership in schools. The observation on the absence of an Africanized or indigenized code of ethics that community members, teachers and head teachers can relate to in their practice leads to flouting of professional conduct with impunity. More indigenized research and actions are required on the need for Botswana to establish a leadership training policy to guide the training of school leaders and ensure that schools become ethically and morally compliant.
It is, therefore, recommended here that a major step towards promoting ethical leadership in the context of “Botho” in Botswana schools is long overdue. There is need to formulate and institute an indigenized ethical code of conduct framework that embraces African values of Botho/Ubuntu to serve as a guide for pre-service teachers, in-service teachers, school heads and other school leaders. The enactment of such an Africanized framework in the Botswana education system is long overdue, especially, as the several studies and media stories have demonstrated that teachers and school leaders are faced with ethical dilemmas daily. An Africanized ethical leadership framework could serve as an important resort for any educator that is faced with a challenging situation that involves making an ethical decision. The enactment of the Africanized ethical leadership framework should be followed by training, re-training, and new programmes aimed at instilling the tenets of the code of conduct in educators and would-be educators in order to make them appreciate and adhere to the benefits that emanate from being ethical in their conduct.
This study is limited to Botswana context and so the findings may not be applicable elsewhere. The study was conducted using secondary data which has numerous limitations. First is that the researchers were not involved in the collection of primary data, and so data used may not be particularly reliable and accurate (Johnston, 2014). Again, the data collected may become obsolete with time, and secondary data also raises concerns about authenticity and copyright (Kabir, 2016). Therefore, there is need to conduct further studies in order to ascertain the ethical leadership (EL) perspectives of stakeholders in the education sector in Botswana and the role EL plays in fostering good governance (GG) in schools.
The authors have not declared any conflicts of interests.
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