Center for International and Comparative Studies

03/04/2024

23/02/2023

A self-serving public service is one of the worst forms of injustice. The private interests of public officers triumphing over public policy, is a grave betrayal of the community it’s supposed to serve. Public officers should be servants of the people, not overlords. A public service that promotes inequalities, rather than actively working to reduce them, contradicts the very reason for its existence, and must be reformed. No country can accomplish its development objectives, with a dysfunctional public service.

07/02/2023

WISE WORDS:
“…Political neutrality demands that Public Officers give of their best regardless of the government in power…Equality demands fair and equal treatment of all persons without discrimination on the grounds of religion, gender, status, place of origin, tribe, color, or religious affiliation.“ - Botswana Public Service Charter

27/10/2022

“But if nations can learn to provide themselves with full employment by their domestic policy (and, we must add, if they can also attain equilibrium in the trend of their population), there need be no important economic forces calculated to set the interest of one country against that of its neighbours.” - John Maynard Keynes

29/05/2022

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Put 8 monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling. Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable.

Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the other monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed on, set upon him and beat him up. Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempts to climb the ladder.

One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious. But undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder.

All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly and he has no idea why. However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder.

A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him. This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he’s not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he has no idea why he’s attacking the new monkey. One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced.

Eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. None of them attempt to climb the ladder. All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why.

-Author Unknown

21/05/2022

A short story of Botswana's spectacular economic growth over the years explained from an institutional perspective