Since 1966 when Botswana became an independent sovereignty, the country has
been undergoing a stable process of institution building and reform that has given
the state a level of legitimacy and moral authority quite rare in post-colonial Africa.
Elsewhere1
I have explained how this process of nation building and consolidation of
modern state power occurred in the context of the challenges of the legacy of
colonial administration, deteriorating conditions in the world economy, and the
growth of civil society. Focusing my analysis mainly on the management of the
economy and the political system, I argued that the nature and character of the
state in Botswana reflects the outcome of an interplay of sectional interests and
structural factors, and that therefore to understand the level of institutional
development it is crucially important to examine the roles of both state and nonstate
agencies in the state building enterprise. For the current discussion I wish to
take the argument further and examine Botswana’s experience with managing ethnic
inequalities in the process of public sector institution building and the consolidation
of accountable governance.