Botswana On a more general level there is a tendency among government authorities and certain economic players not to listen to and even to suppress divergent views. Many people are afraid to freely express themselves for fear of losing tenders or employment. Economic and other sanctions can be applied in order for people to toe the line. “In Botswana, sometimes you have to get drunk before you can freely express yourself”, said one participant. There is also a general culture of suppressing freedom of expression in the case of children and young people who are not allowed to express themselves creatively and freely. For example, it is regarded as rude for a young person to criticize someone older than him- or herself or someone in a position of authority. Over the last two years, there have been persistent reports of secret agents being active against politicians and trade unionists – especially during the time of heightened factional tensions within the ruling party. The general consensus was that free expression among citizens is also not being enhanced because of the absence of a strong civic movement to monitor citizens’ freedom of expression. As noted during the first Barometer two years ago, there is still general confusion over the difference between ‘government’ and ‘public’, with the two often taken to be one and the same thing: public interest equals government interest and vice versa – hence who is against government is against the public. The same applies in the case of the government and the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) which are also regarded as one and the same thing. This means that if you criticize the party you are often taken to be criticising the people of Botswana as a whole. The people are regarded as subjects and not as citizens who have rights and towards whom the government has obligations. 8 African Media Barometer - Botswana 2007