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YOUR VOICE IN PARLIAMENT

THE FIRST MEETING OF THE FIFTH SESSION OF THE ELEVENTH PARLIAMENT

HANSARD NO. 192

DAILY

ENGLISH VERSION

DISCLAIMERUnofficial HansardThis transcript of Parliamentary proceedings is an unofficial version of the Hansard and may contain inaccuracies. It is hereby published for general purposes only. The final edited version of the Hansard will be published when available and can be obtained from the Assistant Clerk (Editorial).

WEDNESDAY 07 NOVEMBER 2018TUESDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2018WEDNESDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2020

THE SECOND MEETING OF THE FIRST SESSIONOF THE TWELFTH PARLIAMENT

HANSARD NO. 196

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY SPEAKERThe Hon. Phandu T. C. Skelemani PH, MP.

DEPUTY SPEAKERThe Hon. Mabuse M. Pule, MP. (Mochudi East)

Clerk of the National AssemblyDeputy Clerk of the National AssemblyLearned Parliamentary CounselAssistant Clerk (E)

- Ms B. N. Dithapo - Mr L. T. Gaolaolwe - Ms M. Mokgosi - Mr R. Josiah

CABINET

His Excellency Dr M. E. K. Masisi, MP. - President

His Honour S. Tsogwane, MP. (Boteti West) - Vice President

Hon. K. N. S. Morwaeng, MP. (Molepolole South) - Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration

Hon. K. T. Mmusi, MP. (Gabane-Mmankgodi) - Minister of Defence, Justice and Security

Hon. Dr U. Dow, MP. (Specially Elected) - Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation

Hon. E. M. Molale, MP. (Goodhope-Mabule ) - Minister of Local Government and Rural Development

Hon. Dr E. G. Dikoloti MP. (Mmathethe-Molapowabojang) - Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security

Hon. P. K. Kereng, MP. (Specially Elected) - Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism

Hon. Dr L. Kwape, MP. (Kanye South) - Minister of Health and Wellness

Hon. T.M. Segokgo, MP. (Tlokweng) - Minister of Transport and Communications

Hon. K. Mzwinila, MP. (Specially Elected) - Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services

Hon. T. M. Rakgare, MP. (Mogoditshane) - Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development

Hon. A. M. Mokgethi, MP. (Gaborone Bonnington North) - Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs

Hon. Dr T. Matsheka, MP. (Lobatse) - Minister of Finance and Economic Development

Hon. F. M. M. Molao, MP. (Shashe West) - Minister of Basic Education

Hon. Dr. D. Letsholathebe, MP. (Tati East) - Minister of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology

Hon. L. M. Moagi, MP. (Ramotswa) - Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security

Hon. P. O. Serame, MP. (Specially Elected) - Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry

Hon. M. Balopi, MP. (Gaborone North) - Minister of Employment, Labour Productivity and Skills Development

Hon. M. Kgafela, MP. (Mochudi West) - Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development

Hon. D. M. Mthimkhulu, MP. (Gaborone South) - Assistant Minister, Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration

Hon. K. K. Autlwetse, MP. (Specially Elected) - Assistant Minister, Local Government and Rural Development

Hon. S. N. Modukanele, MP. (Lerala -Maunatlala) - Assistant Minister, Local Government and Rural Development

Hon. B. Manake, MP. (Specially Elected) - Assistant Minister, Agricultural Development and Food Security

Hon. S. Lelatisitswe, MP. (Boteti East) - Assistant Minister, Health and Wellness

Hon. N. W. T. Makwinja, MP. (Lentsweletau-Mmopane) - Assistant Minister, Basic Education

Hon. K. S. Gare, MP. (Moshupa-Manyana) - Assistant Minister, Investment, Trade and Industry

Hon. H. B. Billy, MP. (Francistown East) - Assistant Minister, Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development

Hon. M. R. Shamukuni, MP. (Chobe) - Assistant Minister,Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology

MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT AND THEIR CONSTITUENCIES

Names Constituency

RULING PARTY (Botswana Democratic Party)

Hon. L. Kablay, MP. (Government Whip) Letlhakeng-Lephephe

Hon. M. R. Reatile, MP. Jwaneng-Mabutsane

Hon. P. Majaga, MP. Nata-GwetaHon. M. I. Moswaane, MP. Francistown West

Hon. J. S. Brooks, MP. Kgalagadi South

Hon. C. Greeff, MP. Gaborone Bonnington South

Hon. T. Letsholo, MP. Kanye North

Hon. T. F. Leuwe, MP. Takatokwane

Hon. T. Mangwegape-Healy, MP. Gaborone Central

Hon. S. N. Moabi, MP. Tati West

Hon. M. S. Molebatsi, MP. Mmadinare

Hon. T. Monnakgotla, MP. Kgalagadi North

Hon. P. K. Motaosane, MP. Thamaga-Kumakwane

Hon. O. Regoeng, MP. Molepolole North

Hon. J. L. Thiite, MP. Ghanzi North

OPPOSITION

(Umbrella for Democratic Change)

Hon. D. Saleshando, MP. (Leader of Opposition) Maun West

Hon. P. P. P. Moatlhodi, MP. (Opposition Whip) Tonota

Hon. D. L. Keorapetse, MP. Selebi Phikwe WestHon. Y. Boko, MP Mahalapye EastHon. Dr K. Gobotswang, MP. Sefhare-Ramokgonami

Hon. K. C. Hikuama, MP. Ngami

Hon. K. K. Kapinga, MP Okavango

Hon. G. Kekgonegile, MP. Maun East

Hon. A. Lesaso, MP. Shoshong

Hon. T. B. Lucas, MP. Bobonong

Hon. M. G. J. Motsamai, MP. Ghanzi South

Hon. K. Nkawana, MP. Selebi Phikwe East

Hon. O. Ramogapi, MP. Palapye

Hon. Dr N. Tshabang, MP. Nkange

Hon. D. Tshere, MP. Mahalapye West

(Botswana Patriotic Front)

Hon. T. S. Khama, MP. Serowe West

Hon. L. Lesedi, MP. Serowe South

Hon. B. Mathoothe, MP. Serowe North

(Alliance for Progressives)

Hon. W. B. Mmolotsi, MP. Francistown South

TABLE OF CONTENTS THE SECOND MEETING OF THE FIRST SESSION

OF THE TWELFTH PARLIAMENT WEDNESDAY 12 FEBRUARY, 2020

CONTENTS PAGE (S)

QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER.............................................................................................................1-4

STATEMENTPula Steel Liquidation and Prospects for Re-Opening.............................................................................5-7

Appropriation 2020/2021 (Bill), 2020 (No.2 of 2020)Second Reading (Resumed Debate)...................................................................................................8-36

Hansard No 196 1

QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWERWednesday 12th February, 2020

Wednesday 12th February, 2020

THE ASSEMBLY met at 2:00 p.m.

(THE SPEAKER in the Chair)

PRAYERS

* * * *

QUESTIONS FOR ORAL ANSWER

REMOVAL OF OVERSIGHT INSTITUTIONS FROM THE OFFICE

OF THE PRESIDENT

MR Y. BOKO (MAHALAPYE EAST): asked the Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration when oversight institutions will be removed from Office of the President such as:

(i) Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC);

(ii) Ombudsman;

(iii) Directorate of Public Prosecutions;

(iv) Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA); and Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS) to give them independence for enhancement of democracy and their institutional effectiveness.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: … (Murmurs)…

Later Date.

MONEY SPENT ON HIRING FACILITIES FOR MARKING

EXAMINATIONS

MR O. RAMOGAPI (PALAPYE): asked the Minister of Basic Education to apprise this Honourable House on:

(i) how much the ministry has spent on hiring the facilities for marking Botswana examinations for Primary School Leaving Examinations (PSLE), Junior Certificate Examinations (JCE) and Botswana General Certificate on Secondary Examinations (BGCSE) for the past five years including 2019;

(ii) why his ministry cannot use public facilities such as senior secondary schools, universities or public service colleges;

(iii) the long term solution of marking centres, and the timeline; and

(iv) the review of teachers’/markers’ remuneration.

ASSISTANT MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION (MS MAKWINJA): Good afternoon Mr Speaker.

(i) Mr Speaker, over the past five years, including 2019, the Botswana Examination Council (BEC) spent a total of P21 245 308.00 on hiring marking venues to cover marking, moderation and standardisation exercises. I must bring to the House’s attention that these are three different processes as they are not all done at once. That is P2 863 128.00 on Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), P8 306 671.00 on Junior Certificate Examination (JCE) and P10 075 508.00 on Botswana General Certificate Examination (BGCSE) for marking. The larger expenditure for BGCSE, that is Form 5, is due to the larger number of subjects on offer at this level.

(ii) In 2016, BEC started using public schools as marking venues. This required repair works to be undertaken before the facilities were ready for use which made the arrangement very costly. Marking in public schools is possible for the JCE and Form 5 because this takes place during November/December when schools are closed and the facilities are available.

In 2019, the Botswana College of Engineering and Technology was added to the list of public institutions used for examinations. BEC will continue to assess and engage public facilities to further reduce the cost of marking.

(iii) In the long term, BEC will introduce e-marking that will not require marking venues when fully matured. Markers will require internet connectivity and access to computer hardware to mark and would not have to assemble in one place. The business case for this has been developed by BEC for consideration.

(iv) The review of markers’ remuneration is currently on-going Mr Speaker, and any subsequent recommendations will be implemented during the 2021 financial year, as budget permits. Thank you Mr Speaker.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: …(Murmurs)…

Hansard No 1962


MR RAMOGAPI: Supplementary. Sorry Mr Speaker, I thought you called me. Honourable Minister, so much money; P21 million! From your observation, do you not see that you could have built a magnificent hall where they could mark and would have saved our Government, and gained an assets as well, rather than wasting so much money? Minister, is that not waste?


MS MAKWINJA: …(Laughter!)…Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you Honourable for that question. Let me just say that at the end of the day, I think it is what has been happening and all ideas are welcome. Thank you.


MR KEKGONEGILE: Further supplementary. Thank you Mr Speaker. Honourable Assistant Minister, you are an era of transformation and that of not doing business as usual. In light of so much money that is spent on annual basis, are you not seeing it more economic for the Ministry of Basic Education to have its own facilities and if so, are you planning to put it on the next budget?

MS MAKWINJA: Maybe the Honourable Member has not heard us. If you look at point number three Honourable Member, in the long term and it is not even going to be in the long term because we are talking about medium here. We will be introducing e-marking as we are devolving towards e-learning. Thank you. That is transformation for you.


STATUS OF A CONDOM MANUFACTURING PLANT

MR T. LETSHOLO (KANYE NORTH): asked the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry to apprise this Honourable House if she is aware that a group of Batswana operated a condom manufacturing plant in Botswana; if so, to state:

(i) the current status of that company;

(ii) how many Batswana were employed by that company and the number the company projected to employ cumulatively over a five year period;

(iii) the total value of condoms imported into Botswana, and the specific value procured by Government while that company was in operation;

(iv) what support the company required from Government; and

(v) the support and incentives Government provided and failed to, with reasons thereof.

Later Date.

FLOUTED RECRUITMENT POLICIES AT BOTSWANA INVESTMENT

TRADE CENTRE

MR C. GREEFF (GABORONE BONNINGTON SOUTH): asked the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry to state if she is aware:

(i) that recruitment policies at Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) are flouted willingly and if so, what will be done to remedy the situation in line with His Excellency’s commitment and promise to the nation at large to root out corruption and nepotism in the public sector;

(ii) that a certain daughter to one of the Board Chairman under her ministry was offered an attachment at BITC under dubious circumstances; and that all rule books were broken in order to ensure that the said person who is a fresh graduate is engaged and compensated at the level of BITC officer or business analyst, against all established norms and procedures; and

(iii) that the said person was given preference over more deserving candidates that have been with the organisation longer and had followed the right channels of being seconded by the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC); and when she intends to address this problem.

ASSISTANT MINISTER OF INVESTMENT, TRADE AND INDUSTRY (MR GARE): Good afternoon Mr Speaker.

(i) Mr Speaker, I am not aware of any fragrant flouting of Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) recruitment policies. If the Honourable Member has any information that I am not privy to, my door is open to whistle blowers whereupon, I will institute the necessary remedial action.

(ii) Mr Speaker, I am not aware of any person who was offered an attachment at Botswana Investment Trade Centre (BITC) under dubious circumstances,

Hansard No 196 3


and no rule book was broken engaging any intern. As per BITC policy, there is an applicable monthly stipend of P1 500 paid to each temporary employees, employees on attachment and interns. None of these employees are or have ever been remunerated at level of business analysis as alleged by the Honourable Member.

(iii) Currently BITC has eight attaches, six through Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC), one through Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) and one through Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) and lastly one temporary employee. These placements are aided by Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) set by the centre and the respective institutions to aid work placement attachment for students in line with programmes of their study among other things. BITC subjects these students to interviews to ensure that the best talent is identified and placed.

In the current financial year, BITC also afforded 12 University students attachment for period ranging from three to six months depending on the professional requirement of their specific areas of study. The attachments were successfully completed during the months of October 2019 and December 2019 respectively.

Further, in the current financial year, BITC is providing job shadowing opportunity to excelling Gaborone Senior School students and Ikageng Junior Secondary School students to expose them to formal professional ways of working.

Mr Speaker, BITC has in place recruitment and selection procedures enshrined in its staff manual. The procedures detail appointment of all types including permanent and pensionable employment, contract employment, vacation employment, temporary employment, internships and attachments and how to resource these. Thus far, no issue of breaching or flouting of these procedures has been identified. I thank you Mr Speaker.

PLANS TO BITUMINISE SHASHE RIVER SCHOOL INTERNAL ROADS

MR P. P. P. MOATLHODI (TONOTA): asked the Minister of Basic Education if there are any plans to bituminise the Shashe River School internal road connecting the teacher’s residential area with the school’s administration block and if so, when as the road is in a terrible state.

ASSISTANT MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION (MS MAKWINJA): Thank you Mr Speaker. Currently our ministry does not have any plans to bituminise the internal roads connecting the teacher’s residential area with the administration block in Shashe River School. Our ministry is aware that the internal roads in the school area are in a poor condition more especially following the recent rains. Our ministry will provide funding for the general maintenance of the school in the new financial year 2020/21, and the School Head will prioritise their needs within the available budget. I thank you Mr Speaker.

DECLARATION OF KGATLENG DISTRICT AS A SPECIAL ECONOMIC

ZONE (SEZ)

MR M. M. PULE (MOCHUDI EAST): asked the Minister of Transport and Communications if he is aware that Kgatleng District has been declared, with other areas in the greater Gaborone, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) because of its proximity to Gaborone; if so, to state:

(i) when will the grading of roads connecting the villages of Mochudi East Constituency be done; and

(ii) whether he will consider including as a matter of urgency the Modipane-Mabalane road in the Development Plan period of 2020/2021 and not 2021/2022 as was announced by his predecessor in a Kgotla meeting at the main Mochudi Kgotla on 10th October, 2019.

MINISTER OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS (MR SEGOKGO): Good afternoon Mr Speaker. My ministry is aware that Kgatleng District has been declared, with other areas in the Greater Gaborone, a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

(i) The grading of roads in Mochudi East Constituency is ongoing (Currently grading Modipane-Mabalane Road) and expected to be completed at the end of March 2020.

(ii) Modipane-Mabalane road is still planned for in 2021/2022 financial year in the current National Development Plan (NDP) 11. Funding for the coming financial year is mainly committed to ongoing projects. I thank you Mr Speaker.

Hansard No 1964


REMUNERATION AND OPERATIONS OF AIR BOTSWANA

MR T. S. KHAMA (SEROWE WEST): asked the Minister of Transport and Communications to update this honourable House on the period of Air Botswana turbulence and increased losses; whether there have been any salary increases for the General Manager (GM) and members of the Executive Committee (exco) and if so, to state:

(i) by how much, and what other benefits they have enjoyed;

(ii) what post the GM is pegged at and the salary;

(iii) how many Directors there are at Air Botswana to oversee the operation of the three aircrafts; and how many people are employed for their operation;

(iv) the monthly remuneration package for all Air Botswana Directors; and

(v) if he will confirm the announcement made by Air Botswana on job cut for two hundred (200) staff and if presumably there will be similar cuts for the Exco Directors so as to set an example.

Later Date.

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Member for Okavango.

MR KEKGONEGILE: Question number 3 Mr Speaker.

ELEPHANT POPULATION IN THE OKAVANGO ECO-SYSTEM

MR K. K. KAPINGA (OKAVANGO): asked the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism to state:

(i) the elephant population in the Okavango eco-system;

(ii) the estimated number of elephants born per year;

(iii) how many licenses were issued in 2019 just before elections, for the hunting of elephants;

(iv) whether the above (iii) hunting quota will significantly contribute to the reduction of the excessive elephant population in the Okavango eco-system; and

(v) whether her Ministry has of recent undertaken a survey to assess the environmental degradation emanating from the excessive elephant population.

MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND TOURISM (MS KERENG): Thank you Mr Speaker.

(i) The total estimated number of elephants for the Northern region of Botswana is 126 114. According to the 2018 Dry Season Aerial Survey of Elephants and Wildlife in Northern Botswana that was conducted by our Researcher that side Dr Michael Chase. The area covered by this survey included; Moremi Game Reserve, Chobe National Park, Makgadikgadi and Nxai Pans National Park, surroundings Wildlife Management Areas, and pastoral areas in Ngamiland, Chobe and Central districts.

(ii) An estimated number of elephants born per year in the region of the Northern part of Botswana is 1 293. This is in consideration of the fact that the gestation period of an elephant is 2 years;

(iii) A total of 72 licenses were issued for hunting of elephants for the 2019/2020 hunting season which ran from the 3rd September, 2019 to 31st January, 2020. From the total licenses issued, 68 elephants were hunted.

(iv) The hunting quota allocated for the 2019/2020 hunting season will not significantly contribute to the reduction of the elephant population in the Okavango eco-system. In relation to the total estimated population of elephants (126 114) in Northern Botswana, 68 elephants hunted account to only 0.05 per cent which is relatively lower than the calving rate of 5 per cent.

(v) The Department of Wildlife and National Parks has a number of ongoing projects being undertaken to determine the impact of elephants on vegetation, birds’ species, and rare and endangered antelopes. The latest vegetation assessment was conducted in 2018 at the Chobe District. There are indications of habitat being lost especially around large water bodies and water holes that are provided for wildlife.

Other studies that are ongoing include;

(a) The impact of high elephant densities on rare and endangered antelope population e.g Chobe bushbuck, roan and sable antelope conducted by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks.

Hansard No 196 5

STATEMENTPULA STEEL LIQUIDATION AND PROSPECTS

FOR RE-OPENING


(b) There is another ongoing study that is assessing elephant impacts on key bird species and habitats, conducted by Birdlife Botswana which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) doing work in the area. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR NKAWANA: Supplementary. Thank you Mr Speaker. Can the Minister enlighten us about the hunting period as per the Wildlife and National Parks Conservation Act; that is, giving us the period in which hunting should commence and when it should end. Moreover, tell us what was so special about a hunting period which started in September and ended in January. Thank you.

MS KERENG: I thank you Mr Speaker. The Honourable Member is indicating that according to the Wildlife Act, the season was determined, I think you should familiarise yourself with the Act. I am not a position to give information as to how and for what reason. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR KEORAPETSE: Supplementary. Honourable Minister, basically the import of the question is on control of elephant population. Elephants; we all agree that they have become a serious problem to the residents of these areas. So, in light of what you have told this House that the hunting quota will not significantly contribute to the reduction, what is it that your ministry is doing to control elephant population and mitigate the adverse effects of these animals, especially to the lives of the residents of these areas?

MS KERENG: Thank you Mr Speaker. The Honourable Member is right to say that there is need to control elephant population as a way of sustainable management. Hunting is the way that we do to control populations of elephants. The fact that you have said that the last hunting session was not going to contribute significantly to the reduction; you will remember that after the period where hunting was not done, we did the hunting in 2019/2020 mostly to control or reduce numbers in the high human-wildlife conflict areas.

I must emphasise that while we want to significantly reduce the number of elephants, we are not going to be able to say we can hunt a large number of elephants within a short period. This is a sustainable management mechanism that must graduate over a period of time. We might see increases in the next hunting season. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR KEORAPETSE: Further supplementary. Honourable Minister, you are not answering my question. By your own admission, these licence quotas will not significantly reduce elephant population. Therefore, I am asking what mitigating factors have you put in place to reduce the damage done by the elephants in these areas? Human-wildlife conflict remains unabated and cannot be mitigated by own admission by the licencing quotas. What are you doing besides the licencing quotas because this one will not significantly reduce the elephant population?

MS KERENG: Honourable Member, hunting remains the way to reduce elephant population. I said that the previous hunting season, the numbers have not significantly reduced but they have reduced. Wait until the 2020 hunting season ends and you will see a significant reduction in elephant population.

MR LUCAS: Further supplementary. Thank you Mr Speaker. Since the Minister seems to be having problems answering this question let me ask it clearly; Honourable Minister do you ever think of adopting curling elephants as one method of reducing them so that they do not have adverse effects on the land and to reduce human-wildlife conflict, is it a method you might consider adopting in future?

MS KERENG: We believe that sir, that it can help reduce elephant population. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR KEKGONEGILE: Further supplementary. Thank you Mr Speaker. Let me request the Minister that since the 2019 quota of elephants was 72, how much is the one for 2020?

MS KERENG: Thank you Mr Speaker. I would like to advise the Honourable Member of Parliament to put a new question to this effect. Thank you sir.

STATEMENT

PULA STEEL LIQUIDATION AND PROSPECTS FOR RE-OPENING

MINISTER OF INVESTMENT, TRADE AND INDUSTRY (MS SERAME): Thank you Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, following my response to the Motion raised by Honourable Keorapetse of Selebi Phikwe West on 22nd November 2019, regarding the update on Pula Steel liquidation and prospects for re-opening, I wish to update the honourable House as follows:

(i) One of the bidding companies had paid the required deposit of P300,000.00 with the condition to pay the balance by end of January 2020. However, the company was unable to pay the remaining balance hence the sale could not proceed.

Hansard No 1966


FOR RE-OPENING


(ii) Mr Speaker, following failure to sell the plant, the liquidator has engaged auctioneers to assist in the disposal of the plant and equipment. The liquidator has so far been able to sell the movable assets of the business and the proceeds were used to meet the expenses of the liquidation.

(iii) In the interim Mr Speaker, the liquidator has approached the Master of the High Court to once more request for permission to sell the plant and is awaiting response. The liquidator has indicated that if this attempt fails, the promoters might be forced to strip and sell the plant in components. I thank you Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Honourable Members, you may follow the Minister’s statement with questions for clarification.

MR KEORAPETSE: Thank you so much Honourable Minister for the update. I just wanted to find out from you whether a company called Hindlock forms part of a list of creditors of Pula Steel and whether you have the list of creditors with you to update this honourable House?

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker. Unfortunately, I do not have the list of creditors with me today. I thank you sir.

MR MMOLOTSI: Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Minister, now that you are talking about what is likely to happen to BCL, are you in a position to give us the same update of what is going to happen at Tati Nickel Mine in Francistown?

MS SERAME: Mr Speaker, I did not talk about BCL, I spoke about Pula Steel. I thank you sir.

MR MOATLHODI: Thank you Mr Speaker. You are wasting the Honourable Minister’s time. I want her to be attentive. Point number 1; may the Lord help you my child to resolve this matter. Secondly, and finally, what are the timeliness for the entire transaction to have been concluded?

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker. Unfortunately, we do not have the timeline. As we speak, the liquidator has approached the Master of the High Court. We do hope that they will get the response this month. However, we do not have a date. Therefore, it will be difficult for me to give this honourable House a date. I thank you Mr Speaker.

MR KEORAPETSE: Thank you Mr Speaker. Honourable Minister, we have been getting reports that the former Directors of Pula Steel, especially the founders of the company who sort of originated the idea of Pula Steel have been attempting to salvage the company with a view to resuscitate it. They have been arguing that they have been meeting hurdle after hurdle. I do not know if it is a matter that has come before your desk as a Minister responsible or not? Can you confirm the veracity of these claims by the former Directors?

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker. Unfortunately Honourable Member, I do not have those reports. At this point, the matter is being dealt with by the liquidator. Therefore, it is very difficult for me to comment on those claims and what the former Directors have or not been able to do. I thank you Mr Speaker.

MR TSHERE: I would like to ask Mr Speaker. Good afternoon. I heard the Minister saying Pula Steel liquidator is actually feeding on the assets of the Pula Steel. So, you do not have a budget for the liquidator? Thank you.

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker. I am not sure if I understand the Honourable Member’s question.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: It is not a question, he is telling you that you do not have a budget.

MS SERAME: He says I do not have a budget?

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Tshere, can you make yourself clear.

MR TSHERE: The question is, I heard the Honourable Minister saying the liquidator is selling the assets for Pula Steel and they are using the same money in the process, so, I am asking if she did not have the original budget for the liquidator to do the job that he is doing to liquidate the Pula Steel? Thank you.

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker. I suspect that I and Honourable Member do not understand each other. So, let me repeat what I said. The liquidator has so far been able to sell the movable assets of the business and the proceeds were used to meet the expenses of the liquidation. That is the law. So I am not sure what the question is really asking me Mr Speaker, as such I humbly request that I and him meet and discuss this. Thank you.

MR SPEAKER: The question as I understand Minister is; where were you going to get the money from if you were not selling the movable assets? Did you not have a budget for the liquidation? Was the liquidation based on the selling of the assets, not because there was a budget?

Hansard No 196 7


FOR RE-OPENING


MS SERAME: Mr Speaker, this company is not liquidated by the ministry, so this budget is not for the Ministry. This company… I am answering the question which was asked in relation to Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) `s 5 per cent stake in this business. This is a privately owned company and those people were involved in the whole process of liquidation and everything. So, we do not have liquidation budget as a Ministry. I thank you Mr Speaker.

MR SPEAKER: Now you have answered the question. What else do you need?

MR BOKO: Minister, please explain to us; there were rumours that the Verma family intended to revive Pula Steel and it seems like the liquidator did not take them serious. We are still here today with no progress. Secondly, I want you to tell us what you intend to do with more than 200 Batswana who worked there who are now jobless?

MR SPEAKER: It is like you do not understand each other, Minister attempt to answer.

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker, it really looks like we do not understand each other. Honourable Member Boko, I told you that you are asking a question which Honourable Keorapetse asked if I heard you well. There were those rumours and I explained that I do not have evidence to that effect, therefore, I am not in a position to answer for that. I simply wanted to update Parliament on the liquidation process like I had promised in November. I can bring to Parliament an official statement. I cannot confirm what is written on newspapers or other platforms Mr Speaker. Thank you.

MR KEORAPETSE: Honourable Minister, ownership of Pula Steel was such that BCL had a significant stake and BCL was wholly owned by Government. I think the question from Honourable Tshere on whether there is any contribution from the Government emanated in part from the fact that Government had a huge interest in the business. I wanted to ask this question Honourable Minister, you somewhat admitted that you have challenges regarding the Pula Steel liquidation, particularly its lack of transparency. Last time you answered this question, that…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: …(Inaudible)…

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: …(Laughter!)...

MR KEORAPETSE: What did she say?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: That you are accusing her.

MR KEORAPETSE: My intention was to make a follow up that, one of the things that we raised was the circumstances under which liquidation was held, it was highly secretive. It was not transparent. That is why the former Directors of Pula Steel said that, the liquidator is not treating them well because it was not transparent. Let me ask two last quick questions; do you think there is any future for Pula Steel? Can it be rescued or the only option available is just winding it up and disposing of the assets? Does your Ministry consider a law on business rescue?

MS SERAME: Thank you Mr Speaker. At this point it would be very difficult for me given where we are, to say my ministry is considering rescuing Pula Steel. I am unable to respond to that and we are not developing any laws on business rescue at this point. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR BOKO: Mr Speaker, I asked about more than 200 people who are roaming the streets. Minister I wonder if you do not want to answer it because they are troubling us. They are the ones who will sneak into our houses. I want to know if there is anything in place which can…

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: …(Murmurs)...


MR BOKO: Yes madam, thank you Minister.

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Boko, that is why I remarked that probably you do not understand one another; who the Minister said this company belongs to and the position of her Ministry. Anyway, she is here she will answer.

MS SERAME: Thank you. Mr Boko! …Honourable Member Boko! Bear with me for saying that Mr Speaker. Honourable Boko, this company is not owned by the Ministry, it has owners. The Ministry came in because CEDA holds 5 per cent in this business, that is why it was taken to the Minister of Investment Trade and Industry, but there are other stakeholders like BCL and others. As such, we cannot be the decision makers of the company just because we own 5 per cent stake. So, it is entirely upon the company to decide what happens to it. Moreover, the company that we are talking about is under liquidation. I can only explain that much Mr Speaker, thank you.

Hansard No 1968

APPROPRIATION (2020/2021) BILL, 2020 (NO. 2 OF 2020) Second Reading (Resumed Debate)


APPROPRIATION (2020/2021) BILL, 2020 (NO. 2 OF 2020)

Second Reading

(Resumed Debate)

MR SPEAKER: Order! Order! Honourable Members, the debate is resuming. When we adjourned yesterday, Honourable Leuwe was on the floor and he was left with 11 minutes, 30 seconds.

MR LEUWE (TAKATOKWANE): Thank you Honourable Speaker. I was still stopped after thanking the Minister of Education. He gave us a statement on the results and I saw it fit to comment on them. Perhaps I should commend the two schools; from Takatokwane Constituency and Kgalagadi North for their improved performance. Mahupu School from Takatokwane managed to rise from the very bottom and appeared among the schools which performed better. They have improved even though their results are not satisfactory. The painful thing is that, what I said during the State of the Nation Address has happened. I said that it is surprising because you will find someone acting for a very long time in our Constituencies. As time goes on, someone will come from Gaborone and assume that position. They will get sick in a period of two months and go back to Gaborone, and the person who has been acting will then continue acting. The one who was acting goes back to the acting position yet it was never indicative that he or she is not performing optimally. It happened at Takatokwane where the Deputy Headteacher has been acting. The Deputy Headteacher has been acting for a very long time in that school and we believe the school is now doing well because of that individual. Right now we hear that someone has been promoted to the Headteacher position from Kanye but it has never been indicated anywhere that…

MINISTER OF BASIC EDUCATION (MR MOLAO): Clarification. Thank you Mr Speaker, thank you my colleague. Maybe I should have asked for elucidation to explain that, that position is not an automatic promotion. Individuals go for an interview, pass and that is when they assume the position. I am not sure if what you are saying is that, that individual also went for an interview, passed and was not given the position or what could have been the problem?

MR LEUWE: Thank you Minister. I am wondering if it is a given that the interview will always be passed by those who come from elsewhere while those who have

been acting do not. I am concerned that an individual will act without any sign that they are not managing and the school progresses to the top but at the end you are not rewarded accordingly. I do not understand this thing of interviews. This is not the first incident and it is something that I complained about before. It is not something that is peculiar to my constituency only, it happens in most remote areas. An individual will act for the top position for a long time and the school performs well but out of the blue someone comes to assume that position though it never came to light that the one acting was not managing…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Elucidation.

MR LEUWE: Who is asking?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: …(Inaudible) …

MR KEKGONEGILE: On a point of elucidation. Thank you Mr Speaker, thank you Honourable Leuwe. To add on what Honourable Leuwe is saying, the issue is that some of us from remote areas where people do not want to go and work there due to different reasons, we have a serious challenges when it comes to staff turnover. While someone is acting, another one will come to take that post. Why not give that post to the one who has been acting instead of having people come and go without results…

MR LEUWE: Thank you Mr Speaker. Honourable Kekgonegile, more especially when there was never a complaint about that person’s work. We can see that, that person is doing well because of the results produced. These are some of the things that we need to look into intently.


MR LEUWE: Matšha Secondary School…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Who is asking?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: … (Inaudible) …

MS MONNAKGOTLA: On a point of elucidation. Thank you Mr Speaker for giving me an opportunity to comment on what Honourable Leuwe is saying. Minister of Education, let what Honourable Leuwe is saying be your take home. It happens in our constituencies, it happened in Lehutshelo Secondary at Hukuntsi. The Headteacher leaves, another one comes in…

MR SALESHANDO: On a point of order. The procedure of this House is that you cannot request a member not holding the floor to take note of what you

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want. Honourable Leuwe is the one holding the floor. It would have been acceptable if you were clarifying something in his debate not to respond to something that someone else said. It would not be procedural because eventually we are going to take much of Honourable Leuwe’s time because of issues raised by Honourable Fidelis Molao. I wanted to make Honourable Member of Kgalagadi North aware of the procedure. This means that you can raise those issues when you debate.

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Monnakgotla, I believe that is clear. I thought since you are together there, you are just adding on what he was saying and sit down. If you ask the Honourable Minister, you cannot do it through Honourable Leuwe’s time.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: … (Inaudible) …

MR LEUWE: Thank you. Although the Minister is already threatening that he is going to take the one from Matšha, let me take this time to congratulate Matšha Secondary School. We had already concluded that Matšha is failing and so many things were happening there. This time around we have noted that it has performed a lot better. It moved from the bottom to the top. This shows that if resources are available, parents and teachers working together, these schools can do better not looking at where they are located and how far they are. A good example is Matšha, it moved from the bottom to the top. I ask the Minister to look into these issues. People are talking, they are complaining out there Minister and you should listen.

Lastly, I would like to implore this Honourable House to support civil servants. I have realised that civil servants are the drivers of developments because they are hands-on. If we continue to be at odds with civil servants, even using the platforms that we have like Kgotla meetings to attack them, voters are going to suffer more than us. I believe that we share the same goal with civil servants; to bring developments to our voters but we cannot manage that if we continue fighting. That is my request…


MR LEUWE: …that we will…

MR MOATLHODI: On a point of elucidation. Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you so much my beloved Honourable Leuwe. Civil service; civil means the community, service means employees by the Government. You are therefore 100 per cent right and may God help all these politicians to understand it the way you and I understand it. Thank you sir.

MR LEUWE: Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you Honourable Moatlhodi. This proves to me that we are going to work together with civil servants. I believe that if all the civil servants at Takatokwane fail, it means I have also failed. My question is, how far will I be for them to fail? I also believe that if I fail, they would have had a hand in my failure. That is why I believe that if we work together and not fight, Takatokwane will go far.

I want to appreciate Takatokwane workforce who were with me as I was going around holding meetings especially those from Radio Botswana. They have covered everything that I wanted covered. Where they had shortcomings I understood that it is because of shortage of resources. They also alerted me if they could not cover certain areas and gave me reasons why they could not. I wish that could happen in all constituencies, where if Honourable Members will not be covered, they should be notified. They started covering us from the time of campaigns until debates. I remember…


MR LEUWE: No, you! Sometimes when you are stubborn, people may not cover you because they are afraid of your stubbornness.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: …(Laughter!)…

MR LEUWE: I appreciate that because even matters that we debate here, they take them to the nation and they do their work diligently. Let us support them to enable them to take the matters we address here to the nation that has brought us here in Parliament. Even this one who said they did not cover him, I heard them talking about him on radio and television. He was fortunate enough to even appear on television which shows that they cover him not looking where he comes from, not looking at what his constituency has or does not have. I appreciate that and may it continue. My request is that they be provided with resources to enable them to do their work because in some instances you can see that they are hindered by shortage of resources. What you can observe is that when Parliament goes on recess, we will all go to our respective constituencies and hold meetings and then expect these people to cover us all, but they are not 57 like we are 57. That is why I am saying that there should be communication so that we know where they can be able to cover us. I agree with that arrangement, but resources…where is the Minister responsible? They are short of transport, all the resources

Hansard No 19610



that they need to do their job are insufficient, and really, they are understaffed. Maybe if they can be increased, and also increase their resources, they can pull up their socks more than they already have. At present, I am still impressed with what they are doing in my constituency.

Mr Speaker, I am not a person who talks to a point of being told to sit down because the time is up. Thank you.

MR LETSHOLO (KANYE NORTH): Thank you very much Honourable Speaker. In the absence of the Leader of the House, I would like to start off by recognising the Leader of Opposition Mr Saleshando, and then go on to appreciate and congratulate my namesake, Honourable Matsheka for his maiden Budget Speech. He did it with passion and with a lot of eloquence. I would like to also acknowledge the response ushered by the Leader of Opposition, Mr Saleshando, as well as other Honourable Members who have already responded before me.

Mr Speaker, leading up to the 2019 General Elections, the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) assured Batswana that it understands their wishes, hopes and aspirations. We articulated in our manifesto that, and if you allow me to quote Mr Speaker…

MR SPEAKER: Do quote!

MR LETSHOLO: ‘‘Batswana want a more inclusive economy in which they will participate in wealth creation. They want a transformed economy that is able to create jobs for our unemployed graduates. They want an improved education and training system that is innovative and creates a knowledge based economy.’’

Our President, His Excellency Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi stated again in the manifesto. Again, if I may quote Mr Speaker, “We have listened and heard our people. That is why the next BDP Government will lead the country on a path to economic transformation and create jobs that will roll back the scourge of poverty.”

Honourable Speaker, in a little over four years, our mandate as the BDP to govern will expire. We will go out to ask Batswana to renew our mandate to govern. Batswana will require of us to look back and account for the actions we took and the decisions we make now. They will judge us on the extent to which we have achieved the economic transformation that we have promised them.

Honourable Speaker, due to limited time for this debate, I will not spend a lot of time praising or commending the Honourable Minister Honourable Matsheka on the

many positives that he has articulated in his Budget Speech. Those positives Honourable Speaker include, but are not only limited to the following:

• Focus on a private sector driven economy

• Improvement in project appraisal processes

• Review of ecosystem for export promotion and import substitution and import substitution

• Review of various legislations to improve the ease of doing business in Botswana.

Honourable Speaker, you have heard from a number of us in this House, that we are not in agreement with the budget provision attributable to air assets for the military. I ask the Honourable Minister to please reconsider it because in my humble view Mr Speaker, Botswana should not budget for any military equipment expenses or purchases now or at least in the next five years. The only provision that should be made is for the maintenance of the existing equipment.

Mr Speaker, we are not aware of any risk to our national peace and security that requires of us to deny people in Kanye North a public hospital, schools for the people of Ngami, tarred roads and electricity for farmers in Tuli Block and Sandveldt, and instead choose to buy military equipment.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: … (Applause!)…

MR LETSHOLO: If there is a risk, the Honourable Minister should clearly state this risk. Otherwise, I really find it difficult Mr Speaker to accept this budget.

Honourable Speaker, on the 15th of August 2016, the Midweek Sun Newspaper reported that there was mayhem at Parliament grounds. I would like to quote this newspaper.

MR SPEAKER: Please do!

MR LETSHOLO: ‘‘Law enforcement officers clashed with unemployed youth and local journalists… A peaceful gathering in front of Parliament buildings by the unemployed youth turned into a skirmish with police, culminating in arrests and detention of protesters, politicians and journalists. Brandishing placards expressing their demands for sustainable jobs, the youth provoked the wrath of police who immediately turned on them with sjamboks and knobkerries. Police reveal that the arrested youth would spend a night in custody and appear in court the following day on a single count of common nuisance.”

Hansard No 196 11



Honourable Speaker, this is not common nuisance, it is a red flag pointing to the most serious risk to our national peace and security. The risk emanates from scores of young people in Botswana, some graduates and others not, who are unemployed, broke and depressed. This is the only risk that demands a significant chunk of our budget now and in the coming years. Poverty and unemployment exacerbate inequality and robs people of their dignity, and surely…

MR SPEAKER: Order! Order! Honourable Member! Freeze the clock! Honourable Molao, if you want to read newspapers, go outside.


HONOURABLE MEMBERS: …(Laughter!)…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Will you finish?

MR SPEAKER: Anybody who wants to read newspapers, they better go outside.

MR LETSHOLO: Thank you Honourable Speaker. Poverty and unemployment exacerbate inequality and robs people of their dignity, and surely, extreme poverty is a threat to national security. A hungry man is an angry man , in the absence of basic needs, there is little patience and people are less forgiving.

In our elections manifesto Mr Speaker, we pledged and again please allow me to quote, “to create jobs in the entire value chains of the digital innovation, agriculture, mining, tourism, education, automotives, electronics, pharmaceuticals, solar and manufacturing industries.” I can bet on my last thebe Mr Speaker, that if we had pledged to Batswana that we would buy more air assets for the military, we would not be the governing party today.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: … (Applause!)…

MR LETSHOLO: Mr Speaker, we must give the creative industry attention for its sheer ability to contribute to the economy. Jamaica serves as a positive benchmark for its focus on music and sports. Nigeria has done very well with television, producing 50 movies per week with an average of 130 people employed per movie. Mr Speaker, this translates to 6 500 jobs per week and 312 000 jobs per annum. This is what we can do with Botswana Television (BTV). The money currently destined for military air assets must be diverted to BTV’s budget for purchasing local content.

Honourable Matsheka, please give BTV One Hundred Million Pula (P100 000 00) every year for the next five years to purchase local content. At the end of the five years, I can assure you, we will have a Botswood that can sustain itself, driving serious employment in the arts and creative sector.

MINISTER OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, SPORT AND CULTURE DEVELOPMENT (MR RAKGARE): Clarification. I thank you very much Mr Speaker. I thank you very much Honourable Member for yielding. Honourable, last year, Government put aside money amounting to P50 million, reserved for content production for NOW TV; which is under the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development. On top of that, we have parastatals such as Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA), and there is no Motswana who has the idea of venturing into the creative industry and produce content, not even for (Btv), but even for various international platforms. What do you think about this, do you not think that Government is trying to create employment opportunities by giving Batswana a chance to look for funding to use?

MR LETSHOLO: Thank you Minister. The Government is trying, but it is not good enough. What I know is that, Btv had P2 million last year to purchase local content, that cannot be enough. I am asking for P100 million dedicated for the next five years.

Mr Speaker, I commend the Honourable Minister for recognising the building of human capital as one of the four national priorities. In order to get this right, the foundation must be robust and conducive to the current and modern ways of working. This money so destined for these military assets must be diverted to providing every single teacher in Botswana with a laptop and transforming schools’ staffrooms into modern workstations, with fast internet connectivity to enable teachers to better prepare lessons, to do research and to communicate with one another. This will contribute to an improved stature of the teaching profession and inspire the teachers to achieve more. The teachers in Botswana are the only professionals that I know that when they start employment on day one, they do not get a computer, a password for internet access and they do not get an e-mail address that every other profession gets.

Mr Speaker, what is the real difference between a private hospital and a public hospital? I will tell you this because in general, they are manned by medical professionals

Hansard No 19612



who went to the same medical schools. The difference is quality of service. Poor quality of service attributable to either lack of equipment or low pay. This budget that I am talking about, should be re-directed to buy beds for in-patients and fund an attraction and retention scheme for all health professionals while awaiting the promised comprehensive review of their pay structure.

Honourable Speaker, we are losing out on the enthusiasm, talent and vitality of our young people. This budget needs to point us to a new era that approaches youth unemployment in a fresh and effective manner. We have to give young people the opportunities they crave to build a better, advanced and high performing Botswana. It must force Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry to bolster the entrepreneurial spirit by resisting the urge to simply finance “sure to succeed” projects. The ministry must introduce a financing model for concepts and intellectual property.

It cannot be forgotten Mr Speaker, that the steps taken towards accomplishing one purpose may result in the establishment of an unforeseen local need. To give an example; the discovery of penicillin, the light bulb and even Post-It Notes that Spencer Silver invented by mistake while trying to develop super strong adhesive for 3M laboratories and came up way short. Instead, he had invented the opposite; an adhesive that stuck to objects but could easily be lifted off. These Post-It Notes, an initial mistake in discovery, has become an iconic item in our offices as the stapler, printer or a fax machine. Imagine what Batswana could create when given the allowance and room to “fail forward.”

Honourable Speaker, with above examples, I have demonstrated how we can effectively transform Botswana in a more impactful manner and achieve the pledges and aims of our manifesto as the ruling party within the current budget constraints, and also be able to face the electorates in four years’ time with authority and confidence because we will have delivered.

I will now proceed to highlight and add impetus to some of the progressive commitments that the Honourable Minister Matsheka has made in his speech.

Formulating a law on Citizen Economic Empowerment

Honourable Speaker, this is welcome and far long coming. In the year 1998, delivering a speech in Francistown at the invitation of the then Botswana Confederation of Commerce, Industry and Manpower

(BOCCIM), the former Debswana Managing Director Mr Louis Nchindo said, if you allow me to quote, “the policy has been in existence for some time, but has not been very successful. If applied properly it could be a very important tool. What Government needs to do to make it work is firstly, to entrench it in law so that it is beyond being tampered with by official discretion. Secondly, there should be stiff penalties for breaking this law.”

Honourable Speaker, this was uttered during the Presidency of His Excellency Dr Festus Mogae, who was then followed by His Excellency Dr Ian Khama, and we are now in the Presidency of Dr Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, and it is still being repeated. I was at university when this was said, I am now in Parliament, and it is still being reiterated. This 12th Parliament Honourable Speaker, better not be part of these statistics. I refuse to countenance a culture of rhetoric and recapitulation without action. If nothing is being done about it, we better stop repeating it!

Non-citizen contractors to sub-contract a minimum of 40 per cent of work to citizen-owned companies and transfer skills

Mr Speaker, this Parliament recently passed a Motion geared at Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and reserving tenders up to P10 million for them. We should now be bold enough to state that with immediate effect, all Government and State Owned Enterprises (SOE) tenders from P10 million to P1 billion must be reserved for 100 per cent Botswana citizen-owned companies. If a 100 per cent Botswana citizen-owned company feels that it is short of any special skill that is available internationally, itself must go and find that skill, not Government.

Government to reserve licenses for citizen operators in the tourism sectors, including reserved concessions for citizens only

Mr Speaker, pending this, and I suggest with immediate effect, we should pronounce that in the case that existing concession licensees wish to sell any shares in their business, Batswana must be given first right of refusal. What this means is, an offer must first be made to the company’s citizen employees, and if they are unable to purchase them, the same offer must be made to Botswana citizens or Botswana citizen-owned companies before an offer can be made to foreigners at the same value.

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Comprehensive review or state owned enterprises

Mr Speaker, again, pending this review, I call on the Honourable Minister to immediately limit the number of Board Directorships in parastatals to a maximum of two Boards per person, and this must be limited to only two terms. Further, that the CEOs of parastatals should not be permitted to serve as Board Members in other parastatals. It does not serve our parastatals to have a small pool of executives serving multiple boards. This practice limits fresh, brave thinking. This practice waters down the drive for accountability and affects the quality of work that is delivered. The CEOs tenure should also be limited to 10 years to give the organisations the opportunity of self-renewal.

Honourable Speaker, the budget in discussion must show the early signs of an economy being transformed. When it is not business as usual, we need to demonstrate that we have deeply and creatively explored alternative sources of revenue for Government. We have explored creative funding models for the necessary infrastructure project, and we have implemented concrete ways of reducing unnecessary and wasteful Government expenditure.

When it is business unusual Mr Speaker, we must act to sweat all state owned assets. The sweating of these state owned assets must start with Botswana’s foreign reserves, which we are informed are in excess of P70 billion. This Pula Fund has to help our development agenda. I propose the development of a dedicated and deliberate legacy programme of development, funded by the interest that is generated by the Pula Fund. Mr Speaker, using established benchmarks, we must articulate a fixed amount of the Pula Fund that must be maintained in the account, and then channel all interest that is earned to the legacy programme with the sole purpose of improving Botswana by investing in big infrastructure projects.

Honourable Speaker, our economy needs real infrastructure development including that of roads and rail networks. The last time that I can remember where there was a new major road created or constructed, was during the time of the late former President, His Excellency Sir Ketumile Masire from Kanye; the Trans-Kalahari road.

It is now time for a rail network that links what has developed itself into “greater Gaborone” comprising; Gaborone, Mochudi, Molepolole, Kanye, Mogoditshane, Lobatse and Tlokweng. All these small

road improvements that we keep doing will soon be overtaken by time and it would have been a waste of money. We just need a rail based public transport system that works. The implementation of this project through a possible Public Private Partnership (PPP) will reduce the use of private cars, create jobs and contribute to economic development.

At the national level Mr Speaker, we need to achieve a level of transport connectivity in Botswana, such that any Motswana can reach another place in Botswana within three hours. This can be made possible by a massive, modern, high-speed rail infrastructure project that links Lobatse, Kang, Tsabong, Ghanzi, Maun, Kasane, Francistown and Gaborone. This will ease travel in Botswana, promote domestic tourism, decentralise economic development opportunities and create much-needed jobs while improving the confidence of the investors that we desperately seek. Mr Speaker, these are the kind of projects that can transform Botswana and can be the legacy projects of the Pula Fund.

Honourable Speaker, we must put Government assets to commercial use, even after close of business for Government on a day-to-day basis. I suggest that we enable the leasing of schools, clinics etcetera by the private sector for their use outside Government working hours. This will create revenue for Government, while enabling private sector delivery of services to communities.

Another example is that of the Orapa House, the building that has been unoccupied for about 12 years. This is an iconic building with tremendous heritage, which can generate significant revenue for Government by creating a One-Stop Service Centre for consumers. The top floors can be rented out to a hotel, some floors a hospital facility, some used for retail space and others for private sector office space. Individual tenants will renovate their floors at own cost to be deducted from future rentals. This model will make Orapa House functional at no cost to Government.

In so far as reducing unnecessary and wasteful Government expenditure is concerned Mr Speaker, there are too many Government vehicles, mostly under the custodianship of the Central Transport Organisation (CTO). There are also many local Government pool vehicles, as well as those belonging to parastatals on Botswana roads. These vehicles are costing the tax payer huge expenditure upon purchase, maintenance and other costs. In these tough economic times, we can afford to

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reduce them significantly if we introduced technology driven ride-share solutions that increase operational efficiencies. This technology, as a simple mobile Application (App), working in Uber-type form would remove idle time and help cut wasteful Government expenditure in maintenance costs.

Honourable Speaker, throughout Botswana, teachers, nurses and many other Government employees rightly complain about inadequate accommodation. Government housing while important for these employees, is yet another avenue for wastage. This wastage occurs in inflated building costs, horrendous maintenance costs and degeneration of buildings due to the long delays to effecting necessary maintenance. To remedy this, and in the spirit of pursuing a private sector driven economy, we have the opportunity to privatise the provision of housing to Government. In the first instance, let us just sell all these Government houses and generate instant revenue for Government, then pay Government employees a housing allowance to enable them to rent or build their own houses, as what happens in the private sector. In villages, this could open up opportunities for locals and Village Development Committees (VDCs) to build houses for rent and generate own incomes.

Honourable Speaker, it is important to allow Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) the space that it requires to pursue tax collection without interference. I commend BURS for the recently reported effort with regards to some grey import vehicle dealerships in Mogoditshane. I was however disappointed to read in Mmegi Newspaper some allegations of political interference. The Mmegi reported, Mr Speaker, if I may quote, “there are Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) who want to mess up the investigations and upset the campaign, even muddying the waters. Investigators have seen a lot of things in this campaign, including communications coming from high offices.” Mr Speaker, to date, this statement has not been refuted.

Honourable Speaker, I agree with the Honourable Minister on improving the efficiency in collection of taxes. I however trust that this does not mean simply increasing the number of employees at BURS. I hope that it means the introduction of processes and systems that enable BURS to focus resources on big taxpayers instead of disproportionately more time on the small man.

In terms of the small businesses and the underground industry, BURS must simply introduce a system that is linked to the renewal of trading licenses that will compel

them to submit tax returns and pay tax without being chased around. BURS must simplify tax calculation for small businesses such as hair salons, and charge a fixed tax based on square metreage to mitigate against purposeful and inaccurate tax filing.

Honourable Speaker, in pursuance of alternative sources of revenue for Government, we ought to look beyond ordinary taxes and consider other forms of revenue generation. One such consideration is the introduction of a withholding tax for foreign domiciled companies that perform tasks for companies based in Botswana for whose benefit is enjoyed in Botswana. The other is the possible introduction of a nominal financial transactions tax. In Italy, this Financial Transaction Tax is 0.22 per cent and generates huge incomes for Government. This financial transactions tax is nonintrusive and generally affects the section of the economy with the financial means to afford, not the low income earners.

Honourable Speaker, we need to run the Botswana economy in the same way one would run a global company of the same turnover as our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). I could not help but notice how the Honourable Minister tiptoed around some of the matters that relate to the effective running of this economy, like the bloated size of the civil service, I bet he is afraid to state that he believes the civil service is too large for the size of our economy and must be reduced. Is it because we could possibly lose elections as a result? But is it possible to run an effective economy in Africa without the risk of losing elections? Mr Speaker, the challenges facing our economy need bold decisions. As the Honourable Minister said, it is not business as usual. The good news is that there are many ways through which we can gradually reduce the size of the civil service and increase efficiencies without necessarily inflicting harm on those concerned.

One of those is for Government to immediately implement a policy that allows for Government and parastatal employees to be allocated a period of six to 18 months as unpaid leave to go and startup businesses. At the end of the period, they may return to work and leave other people in employment, or they may simply resign and continue with their businesses. Either way, there will be job creation.

Honourable Speaker, I have taken time to add impetus to some of the key deliverables that the Honourable Minister articulated in his speech, and have also contributed other ways that can help Botswana achieve the required economic transformation within the same budget and economic constraints.

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Through sweating Botswana’s assets, including the Pula Fund, redirecting the funding for military air assets, reducing unnecessary wastage in Government spending and realising new forms of revenue we can achieve economic transformation.

More particularly, we can manage and afford to invest in modern rail infrastructure, we can provide excellent healthcare services offered by highly motivated health professionals, we can guarantee a capable motivated workforce in the teaching space, and we can create thousands of jobs by funding the creative industry. Most importantly though, for me as a valuable member of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), we would have stayed true to our manifesto and achieved quantifiable initiatives and what the BDP pledged to deliver to Batswana.

In conclusion, it will be very unfortunate to adopt a budget that gives any form of priority to military assets for a nation that is not under any threat whatsoever at the expense of much needed public services, jobs and inspiration for the future.

For Kanye North, we are in urgent need of a public hospital in Kanye. The Magotlhwane-Tshweneyagae road is a road of significant economic value, it was used during the recent Dineo disaster as a relief road linking the south to the capital city. This road must be tarred. We need funding for a television production incubation centre for the promotion of the creative sector and to address the serious youth unemployment in Kanye North. Honourable Speaker, I speak with confidence when I say that the priorities for the people of Kanye North are these and not military air assets. I thank you.

MR SPEAKER: In short Honourable Members, I will soon call upon the Honourable Minister to reply.

MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (MR MOLALE): Thank you Mr Speaker for giving me the opportunity to comment on the Budget Speech as ably presented by the erstwhile Dr Thapelo Matsheka. Mr Speaker, I stand here to give support to Honourable Dr Matsheka on his presentation of this Budget Speech. It is a Budget Speech that is focused. It is a Budget Speech that talks to change. It is a Budget Speech that gives you a good feeling that good things are going to happen. If we start by looking at the first pages; paragraphs 8 and 9 of that speech, a framework is articulated where the vision’s ideals are ably articulated as well as what follows as

a framework in our development planning process. He rightly states that what we are doing as a Government of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), we are doing what we know how to do, for some time that we have been doing it. We have moved from an agrarian society to a middle income economy to a higher middle income economy. What is being articulated here is that in the spirit of Vision 2036, we have now started a journey towards a high income economy.

It is therefore telling Mr Speaker, that when you graduate through the stages like it has been articulated on paragraph 9, you always have to look back and have an understanding of how things have been done, where the successes and failures were and how to move forward; that is called feedback Honourable Mmolotsi. That is the ‘why’ part of looking back because you cannot just be doing things without ever pondering and looking back and reshaping what you want to attain and the outcomes you want to achieve. Feedback is not a mistake, but a process that is central to the very essence of moving through the various stages of economic development in any given setting. Therefore, you cannot, unfortunately for some, believe that to say that we are reviewing policies and strategies is a ploy to delay implementation. That is a fallacy and we are going to continue doing that as I will elaborate later. The other issue that will help this Budget Speech to move forward in the process that we want it to move so that the path for transformation commences, is to ensure that everything is done under the auspices of observance of the law. The rule of law should reign supreme.

It is unfortunate that some people have such acute amnesia that they forget the very things, only a few months ago, they were preaching when they were in the BDP.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: …(Applause!)…

MR MOLALE: No, it has never been in the BDP. What is your problem? We, as the BDP Government will always adhere to the rule of law in whatever that we do. If things were done as we had yesterday, outside the very tenets of what this democracy is all about; outside consultation, inclusion and the rule of law, a new administration as in the form of Dr Masisi’s administration, must correct those and go back and actually invoke the processes under which the rule of law will be observed.


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MR MOLALE: You know very well that he was here, so what are you doubting? I want to proffer to those with the acute amnesia that when you do feedback, plan and budget, you are actually doing something that will always keep you alive to the outcomes that you want to achieve. Mr Speaker, what I have just outlined in brief, is well known by all of us in this House that, that has been the tradition of the successive BDP Governments. I for one, I want it known especially for those across the aisle that of the five Presidents of this country, the one that I have not served under is Sir Seretse Khama, whom I still revere or respect as the founding father of this Republic. The other four Presidents that I have served under, very closely for that matter, have always stuck to what I have said that we plan, implement, check and act on those that we may have failed on. Anybody should never be ashamed of having failed. Failure is a way of helping you to propel yourself forward by making sure that those that you failed in, you correct and move on.

So, some of them across the aisle like the erstwhile Dr Gobotswang, were in the very system as civil servants. When they failed to acknowledge that they have failed, instead of correcting themselves, they go out and start criticising. That is what acute amnesia is all about.


MR MOLALE: For that matter, what you were doing is hypocrisy because the very BDP Government had sent you to school right up to the level of you calling yourself, Dr Gobotswang. The very BDP Government that you are now challenging and saying its policies are wrong. Some of them were initiated on your desk at the Ministry of Health, from there you cancelled them. That means you were very hypocritical whilst a civil servant because you were misleading the Government because they thought you are professional which they trained so that you can come and develop Botswana. That is hypocrisy.


MR MOLALE: I am talking about the budget …(Laughter!)… What I was saying is that, having served these four Presidents, every time a President handed over to the other, that President went home, retired and they became respected senior citizens of this country; senior statesmen.


MR MOLALE: You like saying things and when we respond, you start fidgeting on your chairs. I do not know what is different with Masisi such that after he gets the baton, he becomes everything that is bad about a President.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Give His Excellency Mr Masisi a chance to rule.

MR MOLALE: That is why we are saying, give His Excellency Mr Masisi a chance to rule; you are right Honourable Mmolotsi. Let him rule. So, all sorts of things are being said. If he finds that things were not done right, whether unintentionally or intentionally, in essence, as he has committed to observance of the rule of law, he has to do what is right. It has always been tradition. Every President that was handed over to, always had their own priorities carved out. So, what is wrong in Masisi carving out his priorities and ensuring that after he has carved them out, if there are any strategies or policies that stand on the way of those strategies, he has to review them? Now, Honourable Saleshando is talking about a Government of reviews, he has to review them because he is new as the President, and if need be he can even cancel them, as long as he has consulted with the nation. So, what is wrong with that? In the past all these Presidents that had handed over, and the incoming had changed certain things they never went back...

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Point of clarification.

MR MOLALE: I am talking here, listen. They never went back to say that they are being vilified, they are being hated because the policies or strategies they followed are being changed; that is democracy. So I fail to understand, Masisi through his Cabinet has been guided that, now this year’s budget must follow the path he has carved, and we are all going around trying to distract everybody and mislead the nation that Masisi is misleading people. That is not correct I stand by Masisi like I have stood by those other Presidents that I served under. I was not a passive bystander, I was a very close advisor to all of them, as I do now as a close advisor to Masisi. You can call me by whatever name you think, the truth will always bail anybody who speak it, it will always bail them out.


MR MOLALE: Why are you so fidgety? Listen, be still. That is what I am saying Mr Speaker that, we are here talking a budget that speaks of transformation.

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One other thing that worries us is that, we have a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Manifesto here that has articulated all things that need to be done by the BDP, including electric car. We are not ashamed of that, because it is in the offing.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: ...(Inaudible)...

MR MOLALE: Of course yes. When you see that we have articulated what we are going to do, that has to be funded by the budget of Honourable Matsheka; we then start trying to say that you want to do things that you have articulated here. Take for instance last week’s Motion on Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD), if you had read this manifesto, it is very clear about what we are going to about ISPAAD. It is just that you are behaving like a cat on hot bricks, jumping from one thing to the other, not knowing what to do. We know what to do, and that is why Honourable Matsheka has turned to a way that he will fund this booklet here. We are only six months into it, and you have started making noise, what is all that? Some are displaying acute amnesia, and some are...


MR MOLALE: Hey! Gobotswang, you were debating here the other time, I never interfered in your talk. What is your problem? Actually you were not saying anything valuable except condemning the things that you advised the Government on, when you were still a civil servant. We are now sweeping off the mess that you created.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: ... (Laughter!)...

MR MOLALE: Ooh! What is wrong? Budget Honourable Kekgonegile, is funding the transformation agenda which is articulated in this manifesto. You never had a manifesto by the way, you had a funeral programme, listing and tabulating things without explaining what you are going to do. P1, 500, P3, 000, as if you are at the playground. We are a serious Government, you must go and read this manifesto, because I looked for yours and what I found was a table of things, without even explaining. No wonder the population just ignored you and pretended you do not exist.


MR MOLALE: Yes! They voted for me at Phitshane-Molopo.


MR MOLALE: No, you have been voted there is no problem, I am saying we are Government now, and we are following our manifesto. For that matter Honourable Saleshando, remember that we are not a Government coalition. We are not, we are following this manifesto.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: ... (Inaudible)...

MR MOLALE: If there is anyone who has told you that you Saleshando and I are together, I think it was a grievous fault that he ever said that, even if you were to apply for membership in BDP and I am still alive, I would protest heavily.



MR MOLALE: Mr Speaker, let me proceed. We appreciate very much what Dr Matsheka has said, especially on Paragraphs 16, 17, 18 and 19. The key four pillars that he will be following to drive the transformation agenda. It is something that I believe everybody should believe in, and strongly follow it.


MR MOLALE: Of course yes. Traditionally, our reputation as a BDP Government has been clearly seen as a reputation that depicts a Government that can take a country anywhere, and that is why Botswana is an epitome of good governance, good democracy and observance of the rule of law. As I said, we shall continue along that path, but of course with a transformation on the key factors that will help to improve on the quality of life, the safety and security of our people and equal opportunity for all citizens irrespective of creed, colour, political allegiance and what have you, because at the moment we are a Government of the people of Botswana, by the people of Botswana.

We all went out on political campaigns, and all of us including you on that side, were promising that you are going to provide better quality life for citizens. We all promised that we were going to give better security to our people and their property, and that we were going to create equal opportunities for Batswana. The difference between you and us this side is that, we were able to articulate that which we were going to do to improve the quality of life, to improve security of our citizens and their property, we articulated ably that which we were going to do to improve on creating equal opportunities for citizens of this country. We ably did that, and

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anybody in here who has read, knows that it is in here. Now, to be talking like people who just woken up, and start talking of how the BDP Government has failed and how disappointing it is, I think they need not go far, they need to start with themselves Honourable Lucas, to say, where do we come from?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: I am not the only one.


MR MOLALE: Where do we come from? How the stewardship of the resources scarce as they were of this country, were used such that we now have university lecturers in the form of Honourable Taolo, Honourable Keorapetse, and everybody. We now have biomedical engineers across the aisle and professors for diphaphatha tsa bana. …(Laughter!)… Do you understand? I am talking quality life.


MR MOLALE: You are Dr Gobotswang and you went to school because of the able stewardship of the resources of this country such that you were given priority to attend school.


MR MOLALE: That was the budget Kekgonegile. It will continue, improve and transform for the better. You have a tendency of intentionally forgetting things.


MR MOLALE: Honourable Saleshando, I have said to you before that if you were a civil servant by the time I was the Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), I would have fired you in the first instance.


MR MOLALE: I would have fired you.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: He could be at the farm.

MR MOLALE: He could be at the farms right now.


MR MOLALE: Dr Matsheka, your macroeconomic policy pursuit that you have articulated in the budget as part of the transformation process that you have undertaken, they are now tallying well with the microeconomic aspects of our development process, which is about, I doubt if they hear me but I will just

speak, resource allocations. Key in the transformation is we are now moving away from a resource-driven economy to a knowledge-driven economy. If you read in this Budget Speech here, that is what Dr Matsheka is talking about.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: What is he saying?

MR MOLALE: I thought you are a teacher you Hikuama. Are you illiterate not to know what is contained in this Budget Speech? Why are you asking me what he is saying? Have you not read? Hey! People!



MR MOLALE: The resource allocation trajectory that you are taking as per this Budget Speech Dr Matsheka, is the one that will actually underpin the transformation journey we are undertaking. When someone says, “this is the beginning of the end,” why did they craft the beginning of that end and then run away like that?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Are you afraid of him?

MR MOLALE: No, his chair is there, he will get the message when he comes back. I am not scared of him. It does not matter Mr Speaker. When things have been done wrongly, why should you arm a non-army and then complain when the law is being read to you that this is wrong?

There is no way an entity in the form of a ministry can run a paramilitary unit without the concurrence and knowledge of a Head of State, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. If it was armed illegally, the Commander-in-Chief has to disarm it and that is what Dr Masisi did, have you forgotten?


MR MOLALE: By who?


MR MOLALE: You must go and read law again. There is nothing that overrides the Constitution Honourable Hikuama. If you have a law that goes against the Constitution, it is rendered null and void immediately. You cannot just be screaming on your desk like that; go and do research. You said that you are a teacher of repute; go and check.

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The hunting season ended without consulting people of Ngamiland and many others. When President Masisi comes in and says, “This was done without consultation, we are now going to consult the nation,” it is seen as a problem.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: How far were you when it happened?

MR MOLALE: I was there. How far were you from Boko?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: When he said what?

MR MOLALE: How far were you when he made Moti to insult you? Where were you? You like saying things and then when someone revenges you start to cry. Mr Speaker, the truth will always bail those who speak it. I was there, and equally that is why I am saying let him explain how far was he from Boko.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: What did you say?

MR MOLALE: I know what I said; it is none of your business.


MR MOLALE: Mr Speaker, all these things have to be understood in this context that this budget is about commencing the journey of transformation; moving from a resource-based economy to a digital economy. That has been well articulated in here. We are going to support you through and through Dr Matsheka so that this journey of transformation of improving the quality of life of citizens, securing them and their property and creating equal and improved and diverse opportunities for them is made possible. That is what this budget is all about.

As I move towards the end Mr Speaker, I would like to highlight that one thing that we have to be mindful of is that as we embark on this transformation and the development path that we are adjusting, one thing that we should look at seriously is the linking of efficiency with equity. We should not just allocate resources for the sake of allocating them. We must be allocating resources such that the outcomes will give us an extra mile and a Pula more extra in value. Much as we need that efficiency, it is hard to reconcile the irreconcilable but the ability to govern such that those are achieved is what the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Government has always done. Therefore, the

equitable distribution of development is paramount. In this case, there are certain issues that I would like to say about the Goodhope-Mabule Constituency. The issue of roads, water, additional schools and facilitating for the digital economy. These are the things that we will need in Goodhope-Mabule. When I am here, I speak on behalf of the whole country which includes Goodhope-Mabule. The points I have made are paramount because the people of Goodhope-Mabule will understand that I have articulately and ably spoken for them. I thank you Mr Speaker.

MR LUCAS (BOBONONG): Thank you Mr Speaker. Let me start by expressing my gratitude to Dr Matsheka for his appointment as the Minister of Finance and Economic. We are grateful for that even though we are not saying you will excel in this assignment. We are just happy that you are a good person who we are well acquainted to…


MR LUCAS: If a person is good, it does not mean that he cannot be thanked. I always say I am well acquainted to Dr Matsheka, I am not meeting him for the first in Parliament but I am not sure if he will be able to effectively carry out this assignment based on the reasons I will give. Honourable Members, we should know that as different politicians we are influenced by our manifestos so Dr Matsheka is following his party manifesto. Anyone who can expect that Dr Matsheka can be different from Former Ministers, Mogae, Gaolathe or Matambo will be a dreamer. There is no how they can differ, they are cut off from the same cloth. The only difference is that they can sing the same song with different melodies. Dr Matsheka can use Methodist, Former President Mogae sings in a Lutheran melody while Mr Matambo will use the Zion melody and so on but they will be singing the same song, if for example the song is “bodiba jwa matlhomola.” Initiatives mentioned by Mr Mogae, Mr Gaolathe and Mr Matambo as former Ministers of Finance are now being mentioned by Dr Matsheka as the current Minister of Finance and Economic Development. Mind you all the initiatives mentioned by Mr Mogae, Mr Gaolathe and Mr Matambo did not make any formidable change to the country’s economy. They indeed spoke about them, I still remember the song sang by Mr Mogae of “a private sector led economy.” They believed that the

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economy should be led by the private sector while they as the Government will play a minor role. It is the song that was sang by Dr Matsheka’s predecessors. They sang “a private sector led economy.” We heard this song describing…

MINISTER OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, SPORT AND CULTURE DEVELOPMENT (MR RAKGARE): On a point of clarification. I thank you very much Honourable Member. Honourable Member, the point you are talking about is not only in Botswana. You might realise that many countries want to transform and see the private sector taking a centre stage in the development of their countries. A good example is South Africa, quiet recently on the sixth, Chancellor of Germany was on an official visit and His Excellency Ramaphosa emphasised on this initiative when delivering his speech, that it is important for the private sector to lead the economy. You think that you are the only ones as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) Government who will not adopt this initiative of a private sector led economy?

MR LUCAS: You were too hasty, and this is a clear indication that you are of the same pattern. I am not at all surprised that you said that, that is what you are supposed to say, we tried to alter you but we failed…


MR LUCAS: Let me indicate that we heard a song being sang about diversification of the economy. Mr Mogae was speaking with the same passion as Dr Matsheka. It has been 40 years since this issue of diversification has been mentioned. The major question is, is economic diversification possible given the strategy that you talking about? We are here now, and still there is no economic diversification, but the song was sang 40 years ago. We heard it, I even made my own research on it and it shows that from 1991, 29 years ago, there were concerns about poor implementation. Even Dr Matsheka is talking about the same issues that were mentioned by his predecessors, but still there seems to be no improvement regarding this poor implementation. While seated there pondering on this poor implementation which contributes to lack of development, you will hear another song being sang of lack of funds. It is quiet surprising that on one hand it will be said that development budget has not been utilised, even Dr Matsheka will verify that but on the other hand you will hear that there are no funds. It is indeed surprising! But it is a song that was sang some

years back. If there is anyone from our side who might think that Dr Matsheka can make a difference in the economy then they will be a poor judge of character. This is the same economy where Dr Matsheka finds himself being surrounded by initiatives of private sector led economy. It has now increased the gap between the rich and poor. It is shocking because there are people who live luxurious lives in this country and those who are in absolute poverty…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: …(Inaudible)...


MR LUCAS: Yes, if he is part of it then I am including him. There are people who are extremely poor and those who are rich. It is surprising that a country such as ours is in the same league with countries which have this huge gap. We are not at all surprised that South Africa is in the list because we understand that there was apartheid. We never experienced apartheid in our country but the gap between the rich and the poor keeps increasing due to this song sang by Dr Matsheka, which was sang many ago. They said they will fight corruption to the bitter end. I concur with Dr Gobotswang that he cannot succeed because Botswana Democratic Party and corruption are siamese twins. When such songs are sang, we have to evaluate. Chilly Boy you cannot give the responsibility of job creation to the private sector, when you do not have control of when the jobs will be created. Former President Mogae used to travel a lot and the same thing is happening with the current; Atsile’s father. They were said to be travelling with the aim of luring investors to this country, where are those investors? The only people I saw are the ones who came to suck money through tenders and then leave. For years, it was said that investors were being invited, up to now Atsile’s father is still inviting them. You cannot rely only on the private sector to create jobs whereas you as the government that has been voted into power does not contribute. Where the private sector is failing and does not want to create jobs for the people Dr Matsheka, then the Government must step in. The management consultants currently engaged at Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) should be roped in to join hands with the Government in the creation of jobs, rather than to only be engaged when there is a crisis. The Government must play a vital role in ensuring that there is employment creation rather instead of saying it is not their responsibility as they want to create a conducive environment. No, we do not accept that Honourable Minister and that is not our vision nor the administration of the economy which we believe in.

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HONOURABLE MEMBER: Clarification.

MR LUCAS: Government should be serious and take part in making sure that jobs are created in Botswana. It is surprising that as a country…No, even if it is said that you are building a stadium, you cannot keep stopping me the way you like.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: … (Laughter!)…

MR LUCAS: I mean that it is surprising that we are not producing any goods in our country.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: … (Inaudible)…

MR LUCAS: We do not produce any goods. We do not even produce the goods that members on the other side of the aisle like very much, you fail to make sure that they are produced in our country. You know the goods that you like very much.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: … (Inaudible)… (Laughter!)…

MR LUCAS: … (Laughter!)… Honourable Mmusi, you know that you like mayonnaise, why is it not produced locally?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: … (Laughter!)…

MR LUCAS: We are just a country which… in Sebirwa they say it is always relying on other countries. We are just waiting for others to produce so that we can buy. Why do we fail to produce our own goods as a country, is it because we depend on the private sector which we cannot control? Even a toothpick is hard; Honourable Dr Matsheka it is going to be hard for you to deal with this economy if you depend on people who you do not know … the private sector usually focuses on where they can make more profits really fast and then they leave. So, do not treat our country anyhow and hand it to the private sector alone, you will not be able to create the jobs that we need in this country.

Honourable Letsholo can sell the country, he just wants to sell everything. If we are not careful Honourable Members, we will keep talking about these issues, we will sing, leading songs about diversification and nothing will happen just as it is the case today. This Government is talking about many things that are not happening. We are concerned Honourable Members. If you look at the way our Government operates, they no longer want to employ Batswana even when there are vacant posts. This is what they are doing, they employ

our children as Special Constables, temporary teachers, internship, Tirelo Setšhaba and Scorpion. That is how they operate. I do not understand what people have done to this Government because our children now…For example; when they are in Tirelo Setšhaba and reach 30 years, that means that now…


MR LUCAS: No! They will not see Scorpion and Ipelegeng when they reach 30 years. When a student completes internship; some of them here work in Parliament and you will find that they are really struggling. These things are not acceptable, these students should be employed if there are vacant posts so that they can earn. They should have pension and gratuity like us and that is very important. If you go to rural areas, the only job that is available is Ipelegeng. There is only one big company in Botswana which is Ipelegeng.


MR LUCAS: That company, Ipelegeng belongs to the Government. Honourable Members, let me ask Honourable Dr Matsheka in the presence of the Mr Speaker and others, that since it is the only thing that you are good at, why not make it a permanent job?

Why are you not doing that? Moreover, since you cannot afford living wage, can you not at least pay them what you can afford being the minimum wage? You must increase salaries. If a person is employed three or four times in a year and they earn around P3 000, if they have five or six children, really Honourable Members! What are you really saying about Batswana? I heard you saying that you intend to review Ipelegeng so that people can do jobs that yield results. We support that but at least consider them on the minimum wage so that they can work on permanent basis, so that one can earn something since you cannot afford living wage, you refused it. I sometimes imagine a situation whereby I do not get my salary for three months at this Parliament, or it happens to Honourable Leuwe …

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: … (Inaudible)…

MR LUCAS: Yes, I was gossiping about him. If he can stay for three months without getting his salary what will really happen? There will be serious hunger. If some of you can spend two months without salaries, members like Honourable Fidelis would die.

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MR LUCAS: You must keep quiet Honourable Fidelis because we are still going to talk about education. People who work at Ipelegeng, are asking for increments of over a thousand pula each because they will be working full time. We are pleading for these people. If there is someone who does not agree, let us hear them say so. We have heard that Honourable Rakgare and Honourable Modukanele do not agree that these people should get an increment. Honourable Dr Matsheka, we are pleading with you as Minister, do not listen to them. We request that you increase the wages of Ipelegeng workers because that is the only company that you can afford.


MR LUCAS: You have air assets and you are going to use them for campaigns in Mmankgodi. I have been holding Kgotla meetings and I heard people saying that Ipelegeng is the only thing that they have. Moreover, we realise that Domkrag will never implement anything besides it. So, at least make adjustments on Ipelegeng. Honourable Modukanele was asking that…


MR LUCAS: …they are saying what are you going to do? Here is an issue; we know that you won even though your victory is questionable. So, we are asking you to increase the wages of Ipelegeng, pay them more than P1 000.

Education

This one is painful. Many of us here are what we are because of education. When Honourable Molale was talking about education, he cited Honourable Gobotswang and I as an example. The situation that is taking place in education Honourable members is a cause for concern. Our education is in a bad state; students are not performing well at schools. Where will the 50 per cent of students who have failed the examination go to? If 60 per cent of students who write examinations fail, where do they go from there Honourable Members? You will then hear people saying that nowadays it has improved. No, that is worrying. Look at the state that our schools are in; schools in Bobirwa district are dilapidated. Honourable Dr Matsheka, it is a problem which no one seems be doing anything about. The poor teachers are always complaining because they are not taken care of.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: Clarification.

MR LUCAS: There are some teachers who have been in schools in Bobirwa for many years but they have not been transferred. At the end of the day they lose hope and become demoralised at work. From there we hand such huge challenges of Education to Honourable Molao, He is slow and you can see that he cannot manage.


MR LUCAS: This man is very slow he cannot manage to solve education challenges.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: He is already heavily burdened.


MR LUCAS: Even though when we try to speak Honourable Makwinja keeps saying, “redundant, redundant, redundant,” she is facing her chances. She believe she can get something from there.


MR LUCAS: … (Laughter!)… Therefore you can see the amount of trouble that we are in.

Honourable Members, we have a lot of problems when it comes to agriculture. Foot and Mouth Disease is threatening us, currently we have been in the Green Zone. It is encroaching the Bobirwa area because Zimbabweans’ cattle graze in Botswana and the cordon fence has been cut. That in itself is going to cause Foot and Mouth Disease. This means that Honourable Dikoloti should visit Bobirwa as soon as possible to assist. Minister of air assets, we have a problem when it comes to agriculture. You should use your air assets to visit Bobirwa because the neighbours are stealing our cattle. Everyday they steal and it appears as if the response is not enough. I started in Bobirwa saying that, it appears the new Minister Honourable Mmusi is good. That is wrong because I have realised that it does not mean the person is competent but that goodness is just character.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: He is good.


MR LUCAS: Our cattle are stolen everyday and the response is not enough. Honourable Mmusi, please respond promptly to the challenges at Bobirwa. Take your air assets and respond to Bobirwa.

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Again if the cattle cross over to Zimbabwe, when they come to Botswana they are killed and they get paid P700 for a cow and P200 for a goat. We need increment of these payments. Your cow cannot be killed and you get paid P700. 00, while you are paid P1000 for a goat in Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID). This is unacceptable and we are asking for these payments to be increased.

Bobonong Hospital; Minister of Health and Wellness, I must commend you for your goodness and that you have surpassed others. Recently when I asked you to visit, you agreed. Thank you Honourable Kwape. However, the challenges are still there.


MR LUCAS: … (Laughter!)… There is a lot of congestion at Bobonong Hospitals. I hear you saying you will build the hospital in 2022, please reconsider and build it this year. You are a good person but that goodness should also extend to competency. There are many issues but we will keep knocking on your doors. The fact remains that you have won, even if you won suspiciously but you have won. Therefore, we will keep asking. Honourable Kwape is shaking his head as if he will be using his money. You should start building the hospital this year because there is congestion at Bobirwa. There is shortage of doctors and nurses in Bobirwa. It is difficult, it will require you to stand up. The government has been entrusted into your hands, therefore you must act accordingly. This is a five year contract like Honourable Letsholo told you. When five years elapse, you will …Batswana will end up giving up on you and entrust us with power.


MR LUCAS: Listen to what they are saying! A day will come and the likes of Honourable Makwinja will no longer be in Parliament. A day is coming!

HONOURABLE MEMBER: You failed.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: What did we fail?

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Ask Dorcas.

MR LUCAS: Yes, you should ask Dorcas.


MR LUCAS: You have been given an opportunity to rule, use it, and create jobs for our young people please! We are working, we get paid every month but you are not creating jobs for the young people.


MR LUCAS: Revise the condition of schools. Dr Gobotswang, the problem that I have noticed is that all of us here, our children do not attend these schools which are …

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Speak for yourself.

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Member! Can you sit down? I want to advise you to address the Speaker, please! Go ahead.

MR LUCAS: Thank you Mr Speaker and I humble myself. Our children as Honourable Members do not attend these dilapidated schools. That is why there is no attention given to these schools. That is the big problem. Since the President sometimes forces them to do some things, he should force them to take their children to these schools. We do not go to these congested hospitals that is why nothing is being done.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Honourable Kwape.

MR LUCAS: Honourable Kwape and others should go to these hospitals. Honourable Members, we have spoken and we will continue speaking in this five year, we will not be discouraged. We will continue urging and encouraging you to assist Batswana. Batswana have given you the mandate of running Government, please assist them. I will stop here Mr Speaker. Thank you very much.

MINISTER OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT, SPORT AND CULTURE DEVELOPMENT (MR RAKGARE): I thank you very much Mr Speaker. I greet you and I also extend my greetings to Honourable Members here present, both on this side of the aisle and the opposition side. Mr Speaker, I would like to firstly appreciate God for the good rains we have experienced this year. We totally believe that these rains will help Batswana in farming. For the longest time Botswana has been known for farming. Our parents are farmers and it brings joy when we have rains. We are happy about that because the nation will plant and harvest. Mr Speaker, needless to say, I would like to pass my condolences to these two families; those at Mmadinare, we lost two children; may their souls rest in peace. My wife is from Mmadinare and in this circumstance, it is only befitting that I relay my condolences to the families of Odumetse and Thomas, and say, may the souls of their children rest in peace.

Hansard No 19624




MR RAKGARE: Mr Speaker, let me commence my debate by thanking Honourable Dr Thapelo Matsheka. I want to thank him for an excellent, well-articulated which proved that indeed he is an expert in economics. He is not only an expert, he also has experience. You could hear from his introduction that he was raising points which he understands. He also focused on the challenges which we are facing as a country. Not only that, he also came up with ideas on how to use the available resources to eliminate and or reduce the current challenges in Botswana, doing so without putting our economy in danger. I want to appreciate that.

I applaud him because his Speech corresponds with the State of the Nation address by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Botswana. Our main focus as Botswana Democratic Party (Domkrag) is transformation. We intend to focus on this transformation from 2019 up until 2024. We believe that in these 5 years, we are going to put more effort in ensuring that we reduce the challenges which Batswana are facing. We are looking at employment opportunities for the youth, improved health care, services should be provided, solve economic issues and eliminate corruption. All these points are found in the Budget Speech by Honourable Matsheka.

Honourable Minister of Finance and Economic Development is fortunate because he gave his speech after the dismissal of election petitions by those who lost elections. They went to the High Court saying that they have been cheated, even though they lost elections. They lost elections due to the policies which they tried to promote to Batswana, the manifesto which Batswana did not support. When they had to accept the results, they went and blocked other pending cases at the high courts. They took this matter to the high court even though they knew the reason why they lost elections which was because of their president; we talked about this and we are still going to talk about this issue so that it gets into your ears because clearly you do not get it. We raised this issue after the State of the Nation Address by His Excellency the President and we will still address it today. Tell the president of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to resign because he has costed you the votes, he should give that position to someone else. His successor should be put to order for the statement that he made. I wanted to say this in the presence of the Leader of Opposition. If he can continue making

statements like these, he will lose elections again and we do not know where he will go and contest this time around because he fled Gaborone Central to Maun West. If he loses, we do not know which constituency he is going to run to.


MR RAKGARE: Every time when you are supposed to debate and or respond to the addresses which are presented by the government, you should benchmark on Alliance for Progressives (AP) even though it has one representative, they dismally lost the elections. Maybe you should just copy how they respond. Your debates should be proper, the problem with you is that you label people.


MR RAKGARE: It is not right for the Leader of Opposition (LOO) to address us as Tsatseng. I know that some of you do not support him and you are saying that you are looking for someone who can challenge him at the upcoming congress, I was hoping that those who love him, people like Honourable Nkawana would put him to order because if he continues like that the whole party will face the consequences. We are aware that Honourable Tshabang and Honourable Gobotswanag despise him and want him out of the party. They are even saying that the current president of UDC should continue to destroy their party.

Honourable Matsheka, your speech came at the right time, you delivered a good speech. As I was saying, it came at the right time so that Batswana do not get disturbed, so that they can hear you properly. Election petition cases have come to an end at the high courts. At this time, we should applaud our Judiciary in the effectual manner in which they handled such cases. The good thing, like the Law Society of Botswana has already spoken is that, through Dr Masisi’s most criticized government, the court proceedings we aired live on Botswana television and radio stations for the first time in the history of this country. They said, since these people are saying that they have been cheated, let us see what...


MR RAKGARE: No! Forget! Not you. So, we should applaud the judges who handled these cases and also encourage them to continue doing a good job.

Hansard No 196 25



Minister, I appreciate the fact that you presented four pillars before this House. I believe that they will elevate our economy. You said that we should support and put enough effort in making sure that the government of Botswana produces goods which can take our country to another level, export based economy. We should see Batswana owned companies expanding, our country becoming self-sufficient and having an increase in our foreign reserves. We should be grateful for that.

Your interventions are very wonderful and the youth of this country should appreciate that. Honourable Minister, we will be grateful if these pillars can reach our constituencies. Mr Speaker, I stand here representing Mogoditshane Constituency. When you look at it, I believe that the points which are being raised by the minister can help us reduce the challenges at our constituency. Mr Speaker, Mogoditshane constituency is more densely populated than all the other 57 Constituencies in our country. After the 2011 population census, Statistics Botswana gave us a report which indicated that the population of Mogoditshane is 58 079. Molepolole is greater that all the villages in Botswana and it has a population of 66 000. Minister, Molepolole has been divided into two, it has two constituencies and that is why we have Honourable Morwaeng and Honourable Regoeng in this House. Minister, we should look at this point when we do the review.

It is not the population issue only. The other issue is the proximity of Mogoditshane to the capital city. Let us consider the high rate of unemployment at Mogoditshane, the allocation of residential plots is still being at 140 000. Health issues, we only have two clinics. I am grateful that Honourable Dr Kwape paid us a visit yesterday at Nkoyaphiri Clinic. I am now moving forward because I have already asked him to evaluate the situation at Mogoditshane. Our clinic receives many patients from Kopong, Mmopane and Gabane. They increase the already existing high population. We have a huge problem.

The Minister spoke about provision of infrastructure, which I believe we have included sewage projects.

MR LUCAS: Clarification Mr Speaker. I simply want to get verification from Honourable Rakgare regarding the waiting list at Mogoditshane of land allocation, how long is it? Is it still the same or does it seem to be increasing? Can he kindly clarify that point.

MR RAKGARE: No, it has not increased. There is a huge challenge at Mogoditshane regarding land issues. Some of you members of the opposition are involved in

issues of our village and are now getting land without following procedure. Our waiting list is still at 140 000 but please talk to your people to stop doing that, maybe they should do that in some other place. Mr Speaker, these issues are painful. People at our village are full of anger, when they are supposed to do the right thing by handing the perpetrator over to the Police, they end up taking the law into their own hands and this is because of poverty. Be that as it may, I still emphasise that Honourable Dr Matsheka’s speech has solutions to the challenges we are facing in Mogoditshane. We should quickly address this because otherwise there will be huge problems.

The Honourable Minister mentioned two points; agriculture and manufacturing. At paragraph 24, he explained that the transformation we are going to undertake as the Government is to refocus our attention to the Ministry of Honourable Dr Dikoloti. The modern technology should be implemented there, people should plough so that Botswana can produce food for herself. Manufacturing is one of the things we are focusing on. Minister as we are focusing on it, we should consider that Mogoditshane is closer to the city so that should be our starting point. Factories should be established there to create employment for our people.

I am happy that in the Minister’s speech he mentioned the Ministry of Defence a lot that they will be allocated the second largest share. So from that budget Honourable Mmusi we request that a portion of it is used to fight crime as you can see that our area is busy. We need police posts at our area which is so big and has a huge population. I believe that you will consider those issues.

We are very happy about Honourable Dr Matsheka’s speech Mr Speaker. We are totally against those who criticize Honourable Minister of Finance and Economic Development’s speech. Those who come here and go back on their words. Honourable Dr Matsheka placed an emphasis on fighting corruption. Those who are suspects we know, as we read about them in newspapers they are here. The most embarrassing thing is that Honourable Leader of Opposition was with us when we criticised Honourable Tshekedi Khama now he has turned and he says he is a good person. The Honourable Member was here yesterday but the problem is that he is usually absent from Parliament. If he was a member who usually attends Parliament and knows why he was voted, I could be directing these statements to him.


Hansard No 19626



MR RAKGARE: We know that you are going pass on this information. Honourable Motsamai will pass on the information because they are friends. We want you to pass on the message and inform him this country is Botswana. Botswana has its people and they are Batswana, they are a nation. We are no longer going to allow anyone or any family to control the assets of Botswana, it stops now. Go and tell your friend that he can come here and throw tantrums but the fact of the matter is his and his companions’ time is going to come to face charges to their crimes. You cannot just come and say things like, “the Government is failing to run the Ministry of Youth and that when I was a Minister I suggested that Youth Development Fund (YDF) should include Ministry of Health, it should include…” What kind of a leader is this, who says such things? Mr Speaker, is this the way we have to behave to show that we are leaders?

The transformation initiative presented by Honourable Dr Matsheka is excellent and we support it. As the Government we are not going to be derailed by the negative comments, which were said yesterday of which people had turned this country into their home. They did as they liked with Government resources and when the President tries to rectify this then he is wrong. You are uniting with them but you used to criticise them and even wanted us to rally behind you to criticise these people because of their poor administration. However, you have now formed an alliance and claim that he is a good person. Alliance or whatever is called. You travel outside the country telling people that things are looking up for you, you are going to win elections in the south region and since that man is Kgosi he is going to win some constituencies at his region and take over the Government. Pay back the person you took money from and stop running to the Courts to complain. You owe that person money so pay him.


MR RAKGARE: Honourable Saleshando, pay the person you took money from.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: You are the one who has that information.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Pay the Chinese.

MR RAKGARE: Mr Speaker, I am very happy about Honourable Dr Matsheka’s speech. He spoke about issues pertaining to our Ministry of Youth. I am happy that he openly talked about the creative industry. The

creative industry is one way we can use to create jobs in Botswana just like we see at America. For Example Mr Speaker, the Americans know that every year they should at least inject U$700 billion into their economy through this creative industry. That is why Honourable Dr Matsheka has taken up this initiative as we believe we can undertake and be able to create employment. In America, over 5 million people take part in the creative industry; visual arts, performing arts, dance, cinematography and everything one can think of which is in line with the creative industry. They do so by branding and marketing their culture to the world which will in turn improve their economy. This also helps them to create jobs.

We support you Minister regarding Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). We heard them disapproving saying they cannot just wait and see. People who claimed that their party has a relationship with African National Congress (ANC) are against what ANC believes. His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa is the President of ANC. I explained that he called the German Chancellor. He discussed issues which he believes Germany can assist the economy of South Africa with so that they will be able to create jobs. Here, Honourable Matsheka says PPP is the way. Honourable Matsheka said that he wants to see private companies creating jobs in Botswana so that they can employ our youth. So, the responsibility of the Government…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: On a point of clarification, Mr Speaker.

MR HIKUAMA: Clarification. Thank you Honourable Rakgare. Thank you Honourable Speaker. I want you to elaborate the point on PPP, is it for the first time for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Government to talk about PPP in this budget?

MR RAKGARE: Whether it is for the first or second time, it does not matter. The issue is commitment and it depends on those who are doing the job. That is our debate right now. I told you about the qualifications of the Minister of Finance, his energy shows that we are very fortunate as a Government, to have him. So, we will do those things.

The private sector is buying into our story. They are buying the BDP story. Mr Speaker, at Gabz FM Radio Station yesterday, they were discussing in one of their programs that, they heard His Excellency Masisi saying that he wants to give the private sector a chance to create

Hansard No 196 27



jobs, they heard and they will do that. They explained that in the next 18 months, they would have created more than 1 000 jobs. That is what we want to see happening and many companies are happy about it because they want to make profits in Botswana. That is why we want to see this happening as a Government because if they do so, they will be building their businesses and employing our children at the same time.

Mr Speaker, I want to conclude that very soon, as one of the good initiatives of this Government, which the Honourable Minister of Finance talked about, for the first time in our history and for the first time in the African Continent, we saw Botswana hosting the Forbes Under 30 Summit. This summit assembles more than 600 youths who are also experts in businesses and they will come to Botswana. They share ideas with our youth and we believe that this will really help them to improve their businesses. Moreover, those who have not started will be able to benefit from that and learn how others managed. These are great news from Forbes Under 30. The Chief Content Officer, Randall Lane, if you allow me to quote Mr Speaker. Recently said, “with our first-ever Under 30 Summit in Africa, we are bringing the world’s top young entrepreneurs to the continent that will drive global growth in the 21st Century. We are especially excited to be in Botswana; a country that has shown intents to be a Start-up Hub for the African century.” See people who are not jealous …

MR SALESHANDO: On a point of procedure, Mr Speaker. This does not only apply to Honourable Rakgare. There is a trend where people say, I would like to quote so and so. The purpose of quoting is to also disclose the source so that if colleagues want to follow up, they know exactly what you are quoting. Is it a magazine or newspaper; which date? I think for the benefit of others; you need to make that a practice.

MR RAKGARE: Thank you very much…

MR SPEAKER: Wait Honourable Member. Thank you very much Honourable Saleshando. I take it that this is something that Members should always understand, but Members would just pick … in addition to what you are saying, a Member would just immediately go to their document and say, I would like to quote. Before I allow them to do that, they go ahead and quote. Please, can we stop doing that. You open your quote and close your quote. The other thing that I have noticed and I request to share with you is that when a Member has asked for an intervention, you press your microphone and ask for

your intervention then you sit down. Then if the other Member yields for you, you do not stand up before I allow you to talk. Let us try to do that, as much as we can so that people can see that we are grown-ups. You must not quote without referring to your source. That is being scholarly. Let us proceed Honourable Rakgare.

MR RAKGARE: Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Honourable Leader of the Opposition (LOO), perhaps for my own satisfaction, go to Forbes Website and read what the Chief Content Officer said. We appreciate this very much because it will assist our young entrepreneurs, to capacitate them as well as make them learn how to deal with entrepreneurship and what youth need in order to start and nurture a business. We want to give them that space to do business so that they can create jobs, generate income for themselves and be creative. That is what this Government intends to do through the Budget that was presented by Honourable Matsheka.

I want to conclude with the issue of corruption Mr Speaker. Those that I mentioned, the Member who stood here and made nasty remarks…


MR RAKGARE: Yes, I am not happy because that is wrong. What makes me sadder is that you worked with people who tried to destroy the economy of Batswana. That is not good at all. That is bad news. Honourable Matsheka, you must consider councils, land boards and Government Parastatals when you strengthen the law. There are people who do things for self-gain. Procurement is a problem. There are some people; some are Government employees who come from outside, those who work together to destroy this country. If it is possible, let us cease that. I believe that Botswana can do that so that next year when you deliver the 2021/2022 Budget, it would be better than the one you delivered a few days ago.

Thank you Honourable Matsheka. I thank you for that good budget and I support it with all my heart, spirit and everything that I have because it is very good. I thank you Honourable Speaker.

MR LESASO (SHOSHONG): Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on the 2020/2021 budget speech as delivered by Honourable Dr Matsheka. I was voted for by Sosong people …

MR SPEAKER (MR PULE): Hold on, Honourable Member. Honourable Moagi, can we plead with you to come back because when you leave, we will be compromising the quorum. Honourable Lesaso, go on.

Hansard No 19628



MR LESASO: Mr Speaker, I have assessed the budget which was presented before us. I assessed if the budget covered the issues of Shoshong residents. Is it dependable? Does it have value? Is it relatable to a young person, a poor person or a farmer? I have noticed that in all these things, it seems Shoshong has been sidelined. Mr Speaker, I am not happy that it appears we are a country that is fond of self-praise. We praise ourselves a lot with this catch phrase, “middle income country, upper middle income country,” which everyone who stands up to debate talks about. However, when you look at Shoshong, you wonder where we fall in this upper middle income country.

This phrase excites International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and the economists here, they are the ones who boast a lot about this phrase. Those of us who are poor at constituencies do not know what it means. It could be better if this could be made relevant to every district to explain where these districts fall in this income status. You are going to find that constituencies such as Shoshong are not included. There is nothing that you can gather and bring here as a component of upper high income because of poverty. Minister, I know that there are words used frequently in Economics that we are a developing economy and this is our current status. Take it to the lower level and say, which district falls where in terms of economic status. Take Central District and Kweneng, and tell us which district is impoverished and its position in the economic status. At the moment we are just including everyone probably because you are saying you are producing a large quantity of diamonds which puts us up there globally while the country is actually at a lower rank.


MR LESASO: I must say that because I am representing the people who sent me. If we can do that Mr Speaker, we will identify the challenges of the youth in Botswana; most of the youth are unemployed, women and this unrecognised age group of 30 and 60, which in most cases is not addressed. If you are not a young person or an old person, you are not recognised in Botswana, you are just in the middle. These are the people that we need to find ways of addressing their challenges. We need to address those people, they are in the middle, they cannot be given facilities to build, loans, they are not included in anything. Minister, these are the people that you have to consider especially in Shoshong.

Secondly, we are a wasteful nation. There is no monitoring of projects. Let us take the water project for example; we build dams, we dig boreholes, we connect expensive water taps in all these Well Fields, we pump

water with pipes and spill it to the ground. Villages such as Kanye, Molepolole and Mahalapye use old pipes that we know cannot contain the amount of water we pump currently. You two Ministers, you should listen to me because you like disrupting us.


MR LESASO: These two. The water that we clean is expensive for us, the water we pump through pipes is expensive and there is no potable water. We have advised that pipes which were installed a long time back when we gained independence in Molepolole, Mahalapye, Tlokweng and elsewhere are damaged. We continue to use them to pump water which is expensive to clean. We are therefore requesting for a programme to revamp those old pipes because they contribute to shortage of water by leaking. That is what we are supposed to do, not where we are fighting to find ways of bringing water from Masama to Gaborone at the steep price of P800 million and we lose water at Molepolole. It will not help us at all. It will not help us to supply 60 million litres of water to Kanye and it gets wasted.

What is going to happen is that, the boreholes of farmers in Mochudi are going to dry up if we pump such amounts of water which is going to go to waste at Kanye if we do not revamp those pipes so that they can contain and preserve water. The funds that will be released for installation of pipes at Masama to Gaborone should be used to revamp the pipes at Molepolole, Kanye, Lobatse and everywhere where the pipes are damaged because we are going to waste funds.

Roads

I am talking about the waste that we see; we build roads and leave them until they are damaged beyond repair. We could be using funds to refurbish roads before they are damaged. Shakawe-Maun road; if it was refurbished on time, it could have benefitted us and even now we could be using it. It is now dilapidated, there are potholes all over it. At the end, I will tell you what should be done.

Infrastructure

Honourable Molao, listen as I talk about Shoshong School. I asked you yesterday to come to Shoshong...

HONOURABLE MEMBER: He failed.

MR LESASO: He failed.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Hey! This person is slow …

Hansard No 196 29



HONOURABLE MEMBER: I will cancel; I am not going …

MR LESASO: You can cancel. I will tell them that you …


MR LESASO: Mr Speaker, yesterday when I was not here, I was in Shoshong. The situation at Shoshong School is heart-breaking. It was built in 1994 and that is very disheartening. It was built with almost P500 million. As I speak, that school is not in good condition, students do not have chairs and tables. There is no kitchen yet we are failing to do maintenance. If these things were done, we could be having a user-friendly school. Hostels, toilets, laboratories and classrooms are not in good condition at Shoshong Senior Secondary School.

It is said that there is an alternative test. That school was built as a technology school like the one at Lobatse. All the science and technology laboratories are not there. How do we go to a knowledge-based economy when schools like these ones are left to collapse like this? This is why I have been saying that we are a corrupt country which wastes resources. What is the solution? The Minster talked about facility management as an existing policy which needs to be implemented. I am against this policy; there has to be an Act of Parliament that deals with facility management in Botswana. I believe it will be helpful to have an Act like that, we are talking about billions and billions of Pulas which have been used on things which are not being managed in this country. There are more than 15 senior schools which are estimated to have costed P500 million minimum; Senior secondary schools. That is a total of around P7.5 billion but no one knows the conditions of each school. Mr Speaker, if you could allow me, I would like to invite you, I will hire a bus to take you to Shoshong Senior Secondary as an example, so that you can go and see if the condition of that school is suitable to accommodate students or for them to dine in.

The cooks at that school are even at risk. Pots and gas cylinders are all in the cooking area. There are no lights at the hostels. Students have connected electric cods next to their beds to source light. Toilets are blocked because there is no water at Shoshong yet we are here talking about a P500 million facility. The maintenance will cost another P150 million. Someone talked about P18 million; that school cannot be maintained with

P18 million. We need a minimum of P100 million to refurbish that school. I have to be serious when I address these issues because we allow such things to happen. We are one lazy government. By the time we decide to take action, the situation would be worse.

When a light bulb is connected at the classrooms, those students disconnect it and take it to the hostels because it is dark there. In the evenings when they go for studies, they take the bulb back to the classrooms so that it can light for them. That is the situation at Shoshong Senior Secondary. I wonder if students can pass, study and sleep under these conditions.

They have made ladders so that they can jump over the fence to go and relive themselves because toilets are blocked, there is nothing that can be done. Every facility like this needs a facility manager. We cannot expect teachers and principals to manage the school because their duty is to teach. We need to put facility managers in each and every facility like this school. This facility manager should have a plumber, electrician and a carpenter. The school has to be refurbished and the teachers have to teach. Teachers are tired of maintaining schools when they have to teach. Mr Speaker that is my point.

When I proceed, Mr Speaker I am concerned. We are in the National Development Plan (NDP) 11. We have been talking about NDP 11 for four years now. Mr Speaker, I was hoping that the Minister will consult us, give us a report of what he has achieved and what he has failed in the past 4 years which NDP 11 has been existing. I was hoping that he will also tell us how much he has spent, his achievements and failures so that we can have a glimpse of the NDP 11 progress since we have always had NDPs. NDP 10 passed and we do not know what it achieved because we have never had a review of its report. I do not know because I was not here, maybe it was reviewed. I take it that today since it was said that we are going to the Mid Term Review, maybe he should prepare us so that we know what we managed to achieve, progress and what they plan to do. There are many things which affect us, things like job creation, economic growth of the country, our poverty eradication achievements and our infrastructure progress. These are some of the things which I thought the Minister would add in his speech so that we know how we are working with him and how we can help him if there is anything which needs our contribution.

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The youth of this country have lost hope. Sometimes we take them to schools. You talked about building human capital. You have the Internship programme whereby you take graduates from universities and offer them job training whilst they prepare for employment. When they complete training, you kick them out and forget about them. They are told that they are old when they are 30 years. That they are old and they can never work. Our youth will soon be depressed. This is a struggle. There has to be something which can be done to prepare where these graduates can go.

How do we build human capital if we admit students at tertiary institutions and then side line them? How are we going to build that capital? Where are they? How many graduates are roaming the streets? We have to evaluate these things. I am not pointing fingers at anyone. We are here together, let us discuss and see how we are going to manage these things.

Minister, I was looking at your budget. I compared it to the one which was presented by Mr Matambo last year. You both talked about transformation and infrastructure development. He touched on one point last year when he talked about cluster development. Cluster development in which he talked about concepts such as tourism, beef, finance and knowledge intensive business services and you also mentioned concepts similar to these. Out of the things he mentioned last year, you could be giving us a report about cluster development, its achievements and what you are going to improve moving forward. I want you after requesting for funds…if I ask you for money to go buy a shirt and a pair of trousers, after that I should show you those items, I am putting it in simple terms. I should even show you the size of the trousers. If you now take money from me, tomorrow you take some more and you keep increasing the amount citing deficit on the last amount, what do we say to Batswana? What do we say to them if we keep spending yet there is no financial report? Minister we are here, we shall advise you, if you need our help. We want Botswana to thrive so that it can generate jobs for Batswana. The Agriculture you are talking about which you want to use as a source to enhance this country’s economy, but it is not enough…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: …(Inaudible)...


MR LESASO: I want this young man to…but let me leave him. We have new farmers, who are still learning ropes in the farming sector. Let us train them and come up with schemes to help them grow. We always say, young farmers! Young farmers! ...

MR SPEAKER: Hold on Honourable Member. Honourable Molale, can I remind you of Standing Order 58.7. Go ahead Honourable Lesaso.

MR LESASO: Thank you Mr Speaker. In our efforts to encourage young farmers let us not forget those who are making an effort. Let us also encourage them, we should train them. I also encourage that we should try to use technology in Botswana. We have trained our students at Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN), there is a course you offered students…


HONOURABLE MEMBER: This Motion has caused them pain. Hey! They are having sleepless nights because of this Motion.


MR LESASO: …(Laughter!)… Honourable Speaker, I seek your protection from Honourable Molao, he never stands to debate. He is always…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: …(Inaudible)..

MR LESASO: Yes, cancel, it will show that you failed…


MR LESASO: I was saying let us handle issues of agriculture with caution…


MR LESASO: You are ruining my debate, I want my debate to be well-structured and clear so you are interrupting me. Honourable Minister, I was saying let us encourage farmers who are making efforts. If you are making an effort you should try to train in order to get to a more advanced stage. But they seem to be shoved in the dark, if there is ever such a thing. There are people who should be encouraged so that they do more. Looking back again at last year’s budget Honourable Minister, in agriculture you anticipated that there will be major projects which you announced such as Zambezi Integrated Agro-Commercial and Gaborone Waste Water Treatment which will attempt to advance agriculture in Botswana. I would like you to apprise us about the progress of these projects when you respond and what effect they had on the economic climate of the country.

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I rest my case Mr Speaker. I do not want to say a lot of things which might cause discomfort to some people. This country is for us all, Honourable Modukanele sometimes says “it was your decision so deal with it.” He should know that this is our country, if it does not thrive then we all suffer. We want this country to serve all of all, we should work together, listen to one another, develop it together and cooperate. When we get to Parliament as Members of Parliament of Botswana, there are no political parties, are we clear Honourable Members?


MR LESASO: Yes. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR LESEDI (SEROWE SOUTH): Let me thank you Mr Speaker. Let me start sir by thanking the Minister of Finance and Economic Development for presenting his budget speech. When he speaks Mr Speaker, you can pick that he is a person who believes in advancement. Maybe the problem is the possibility of proper implementation. That is my concern. Mr Speaker, let me indicate that our country which we rule together with our colleagues, we shall continue fighting for it to ensure that the lives of Batswana we are representing improve no matter how one person looks at it. In fact, I heard some rumours that Honourable Dikoloti has been sent to spy on me. You should filter your words because I might just believe that they are true.


MR LESEDI: …(Laughter!)… Mr Speaker, let me indicate that when we talk about the Ministry of Health and Wellness; it is a center of our lives as Batswana. I expect to see the Ministry of Health and Wellness in this budget being allocated funds which it can use to bring all the developments…

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Member, can you pause a moment? Chief Whip, are you going to call them back in?


MR SPEAKER: Call them back in Honourable Chief Whip.

…Silence…

MR SPEAKER: Honourable Lesedi, you can continue.

MR LESEDI: Thank you Mr Speaker. I was indicating that I believe that in the budget, the Ministry of Health and Wellness should be allocated funds which will ensure that resources to protect the health and wellness of Batswana are available.

Right now when you go to all our hospitals, there are non-communicable diseases, which most of the time their medication is not available. Then you will find that many Batswana who we advocate for, many of them cannot afford to buy themselves medication of the likes of high blood and diabetes. Now this Ministry must be prioritised, especially when making a budget because it is the one responsible for the health of Batswana. Mr Speaker still at that one of health; the thing is we have a prestigious hospital in Serowe, called the new Sekgoma. This hospital Mr Speaker when going back, you will find that it is not long since it was built and the buildings from outside seem attractive, but when you get inside, they are seriously dilapidated. That should be one of the things you should look into, to see what can be done to improve the state of the hospital. Even when you are a patient admitted there, your healing becomes a struggle because on arrival, you are met by water dripping from the top floor dripping downwards. Sometimes it is even sewage water from the toilets, which is not good for people’s health.

Also when we go to old Sekgoma hospital, it is one the hospitals that should have opened a long time ago. We do not know what the delay is all about, we believe that maybe when the ministry responds, they will state that there is insufficient money to open the hospital. But if you can remember Mr Speaker, that this hospital was renovated with a lot of money…


MR LESEDI: I am saying old Sekgoma Hospital.


MR LESEDI: You are relaxed. Now I believe that these are the issues we should address, to see what can be done.

When I proceed Mr Speaker, to Honourable Mzwinila’s ministry, we have money that was going to be used to connect a sewerage line for Batswana. People have long paid P1000 under Water Affairs. This is a concerning issue; we really do not know what we can say to the people about it. We believe that the Minister responsible should update us on the arrangement that has now been made to connect Batswana on the sewage line and what seems to be the problem regarding it. We once heard that it was said that people were going to be refunded their P 1000, but Parliament of that time did not agree.

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It believed that maybe a way could be found for these Batswana to be refunded. Now here we are, we do not know what the state of the Parliament is yet; what do we say to the people?

Mr Speaker, when continuing still on Honourable Mzwinila’s ministry, I believe this ministry should be given money. When you look at the long duration that the ruling party had been in power, we have villages like Mokgware that has no water supply Mr Speaker. There is no water at Mokgware Mr Speaker. People of Mokgware are in danger, they are supplied with water using a bowser, which can take four to five days not working, not available, with people being desperate and drinking from private boreholes. Honourables, let us try to see how this situation can be improved because at times we brag, and we forget that they are also voters like us here. Now Honourable Members, let this people also be considered. Not that it is the only one, even other villages that experience water shortages.

Mr Speaker, when I get to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, through which I believe this country can go forward… because we know that many Batswana rely on agriculture, and we still have the issue of budget constraints. From what we are told, we have a service centre that we believe if it was started like former Minister Honourable De Graaff once did by doing ground breaking work, maybe we would have improved this subsistence farming. Now Mr Speaker, regarding this subsistence farming, it seems like we are far from getting this service centre in Serowe. This is why my colleagues ended up giving up because of shortage of row planting equipment. Now let us be determined to see that we avail resources that we believe can take Batswana forward, so that maybe in future we can be a country that can produce food.

Mr Speaker, when we get to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; it is a ministry that most of the time supports the lives of Batswana at rural areas. I believe that it should be one of the ministries that ensures that it supports people in rural areas, so that in future we do not hear of people suffering because of hunger.

Mr Speaker, we have a situation especially when you go to this Ministry of Education. Education of this country Mr Speaker is heart-breaking. Really we cannot talk of improving students’ results, without looking first at the welfare of teachers. You will find that in most cases teachers do not have proper accommodation, they stay

far because they try to find better accommodation, and that means that the time they take to travel there, is exhausting. They will arrive already exhausted, and that means that the education of our students become poor. Not only that, our schools are not in a good state. Right now for example; when you take a school like Mothamo that is situated at Moiyabana, that was built to cater for villages like Thabala, Motshegaletau, Mabuo, Sehonou even Moiyabana itself, you will find that it is crowded. There is no where students take a bath, where they relieve themselves and their accommodation is a problem. These are heart-breaking situations and they disturb students in that even in class, cannot learn to their full potential. Those are the issues that we believe that maybe Government should look into, to see how we can improve them. They are issues we should look into first, rather than talking about air assets, I believe that when we talk about jet fighters, maybe we should look at what is more important. Even at the military, we can consider that which can be more beneficial to them first. We could consider maybe helicopters, accommodation and scholarships instead of buying jet fighters which appear once at Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Day, and go back to park.


MR LESEDI: Maybe we can assess if we are at that level or there are other things we can consider first, not that we are saying the military should not be assisted. Even in assisting them, let us look at what their priorities are instead of jet fighters.



HONOURABLE MEMBER: Air assets.


MR LESEDI: The Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, should not be worried that we are talking about air assets which we may refer to as jet fighters. He has to understand that he is the Minister of soldiers and police officers. It should not appear as if he is responsible for soldiers only.



MR LESEDI: Honourable Members, if you look at police in general, it appears like they are not a priority although they do the bulk of the job especially crime

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and everything police related. The police do not have vehicles and resources, I believe they should be assisted. As we talk of air assets, they should also be assisted somehow.


MR LESEDI: I believe that these are matters we need to look into. Right now the crime rate of this country is very high. We do not have police stations. It is embarrassing that a village like Serowe is still operating with an old police station. These are the things that can be looked at so that the police can be assisted accordingly. We have very painful situations where right now when there is a report of a crime committed at a far off place, they do not have a vehicle but at the same time they are not supposed to tell the complainant that they do not have transport. Mr Speaker, we should therefore stand up and see how best the Minister responsible can improve these conditions with the funds he will be allocated. However, it seems he gets angry when I talk about air assets.

Moving on Mr Speaker. I am concerned about our Development Fund. Honourable Members who spoke before me, mentioned that the problem in this country most of the time is implementation. The little set aside for developments, which we always complain about ends up remaining without having been used. All the developments are at a standstill country wide. Therefore I was saying, Minister Matsheka should scrutinise so that implementation can be improved. Recently you were yearning when you found that it seems most of development funds will be returned.



HONOURABLE MEMBER: Yes you were yearning.


MR LESEDI: I do not know how to say this. Recently when you came to request, you could see that most of the development funds will not be used and you felt it was better for you to use it elsewhere. Normally development funds are not always enough. Therefore, let us ensure that the developments which would have been allocated this little get implemented. Mr Speaker, what I have realised and was also indicated by my colleagues who spoke before me is that, most of the time, road projects are not carried out pending litigations because after awarding these tenders, Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) chips in.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: What does it want?


MR LESEDI: Minister, these are situations that need to be looked into so that developments which have already been allocated funds which are not enough, can use all these funds and maybe even request for supplementary.

MR MAJAGA: Elucidation. Thank you Honourable Member. You are debating very well. Maybe you can clarify so that we know if DIS is part of the Tender Evaluation Committee, or it becomes involved because it has certain powers in tenders, if it seems it is the one responsible for delaying projects to be awarded?

MR LESEDI: Thank you Mr Speaker. No, I am not aware of it being part of the tendering committee. I do not know how it is involved. I suspect that the way DIS was formed, it can be involved in anything. The painful part about DIS is that, the tender would have already been awarded, after completing everything that needed to be done, the company would already be at the site, and then they come and say “no, not this one but this one.” This then forces the contractor to take the case before court, complaining about the manner in which he or she was removed, that it seems as if it is not legal. Sometimes the applicant is successful and it means that the one which came with DIS is removed and the first one is appointed. Now these cases cause delays.

MR HIKUAMA: Clarification. Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you Honourable Lesedi. In your view, do you think DIS should halt processes or write people instructions or provide intelligence that can be used by the relevant authorities because it seems it releases directives which interrupts tenders. Is that what you think should happen in a democratic country which is not supposed to be run by DIS?


MR LESEDI: That is true and I am serious about this matter.

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Okay, tell him.

MR LESEDI: I am saying this to alert the Minister who wishes to push with all his might that his efforts might be impeded by these things. I believe that if there is anything, any danger that they think the company might pose, Intelligence should write to the relevant committees to indicate or alert them about

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that company, not to halt the project. I believe that the ruling party should consider the repercussions of halting, that it might cause serious problems for us as a country. In all this, the people who end up suffering are Batswana whom we all believe should lead better lives. Mr Speaker, I believe that with the little allocated developments, we need to ensure that implementation of these projects is carried out accordingly. I believe that you have thoroughly understood this matter and you are going to look at things carefully. Otherwise it is going to impede objectives in which you believe we should pull our socks. Minister, we have private farmers at Serowe who tried by all means to supply this country with dairy. The government should ensure that it contributes enough, as we have seen the efforts by Ministry of Agriculture when they constructed roads for the dairy farmers. We cannot divert lots of funds to road construction with the hope that we will be supplied with dairy only for the plant to not work at the end of the day. I was thinking that we should also consider that they do not have machinery. The government should make sure that these people receive significant support just like it constructed roads for them. Without doing that, we will be throwing the funds into a bottomless pit.

I am concerned about committees which volunteer most of the time. Some are under ministry of Agriculture, committees like Farmers’ Committee. Others are at Ministry of Local Government, committees like Ward Development Committees (WDC). They are many, we also have others at Ministry of Health. Minister, I was thinking that it is time for us to offer allowances to these committee members so at to motivate them on their volunteering spirit. We should look at the work which is being done by Village Development Committee (VDC) and WDCs. These people are doing a lot of work. Even though their Act does not state that they should focus on preparations more especially for meetings, it is their responsibility to see that they work with the Commissioner when the Minister visits their area. When a Member of Parliament (MP) has a meeting, they stand up and ensure that these meetings take place. When we go to Local Government, they also ensure that Ipelegeng is being administered. It is time for us to plan something for these people. If you can observe now, our government says that we should pay our herd boys P1000.00 while the person who works hard at the WDC committee does not get an allowance. No, it is time for us to recognise these people so that they can also be motivated. Those are the issues that I wanted to comment on Mr Speaker.

I would like to take this time and appreciate that most of the time the Honourable Members understood what was being said. I do not believe that it should seem like we are provoking other people when we talk about challenges which affect Batswana who we are here to serve. Sometimes we can have these kind of discussions here in Parliament, without forgetting that we are not equal. I will try to take action against some people here later on. Thank you Mr Speaker.

MR MOTSAMAI (GHANZI SOUTH): Thank you Mr Speaker. Good evening. I wish you a prosperous and a happy new year. I will focus on Dr Matsheka as the Minister of Finance and Economic Development. Mr Speaker, I am looking at the 2020/2021 Budget Speech which has been presented before us. The issues which he addressed have been addressed by the former ministers of that ministry. They are issues which have already been addressed by Mr Matambo and Honourable Gaolathe, both in my presence and in my absence. Through those disputes, they made efforts as Batswana by coming up with their own ideas.

Mr Speaker, Dr Matsheka is a Motswana who could be valuable to Batswana, but now he has placed himself in a thorn tree party.


MR MOTSAMAI: He is surrounded by thorns. His input and ideas will not magnify, they will just be stagnant because they are being suffocated by the thorns from this thorn tree government. Mr Speaker, Ghanzi South people sent me here to come and tell this Honourable House that they support the idea to improve the condition of Botswana Meat Commission (BMC). They support this idea and also believe that it can take them somewhere. Mr Speaker, when making these statements, they highlighted that these are not new issues, they are old issues which have to be attended urgently to. They stated that these promises have long been made. They asked me to shake the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) government so that when it makes promises which are beneficial to the people, it should also do implementation. Making promises only because you want to win elections cannot be advantageous to Batswana. Mr Speaker, the BMC matter should be attended to urgently because I can see that some people have been fooled since they are getting cuts from diamonds and wildlife. They are still being fooled by the cuts they are getting from diamonds. These diamonds will get depleted and we will only be

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left with cattle which we know how to rear and can come up with ways in which it can bring developments. Cattle are the backbone of every Motswana. They can sustain families in Botswana.

Mr Speaker, we will be prepared at Ghanzi South to see that matters which affect BMC are attended to urgently and that BMC has a manager who will keep an eye in ensuring that the beef market, administration and beef trade runs smoothly and favourable to farmers. We should not only depend on the European market. We should diversify and see what we can do Mr Speaker. That is what they told me.

Mr Speaker, they further went on to say that, although they sell their cattle to sustain themselves, they encounter bank problems at villages like Charles hill. They travel long distance from Metsimantsho, almost 300 km to go and change a P500.00 cheque at Ghanzi. These situations are not favourable to them. They wish that since we are a body of representatives, we should help them to talk to business owners and banks so that they can go and open banks like First National Bank (FNB), Standard, Barclays and ABSA as it pronounced at Charleshill, so that even the Members of Parliament who always brag about their riches can find this development when they visit these areas. Those who own farms at Xanagas and so on…

HONOURABLE MEMBER: Who are the boastful rich?

MR MOTSAMAI: Mmusi and Balopi. Mr Speaker, Honourable Dr Matsheka presented a budget before us, he ruined it by mentioning that he is allocating Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security the second largest share to purchase fighter jets. These assets in my own understanding, if it is not true I can gladly yield so that you properly define them Mr Speaker. As he was explaining to us we should see if we have provoked someone. If we did not provoke anyone, is it not time to create a conducive and peaceful environment for the people to live in so that they do not die of hunger and diseases due to shortage of medication at hospitals? There should be good roads, medication, blankets, doctors and all other resources in hospitals rather than injecting a huge capital in a ministry like this one. It is not the first time Honourable Molale. It is a practice you applaud and sing praises to when this ministry is allocated funds.

They have bad luck and it usually affects low ranking officers of this ministry. You will find that poor police officers are in trouble. I feel sorry for them more especially Special Constables. They take such a long

time investigating and writing cases. They carry out any police task but when it comes to their absorption to the force, they undergo training. They are then rejected on grounds that they are not fast enough to chase thieves, while they only gained weight while working.

HONOURABLE MEMBERS: ...(Laughter!)...

MR MOTSAMAI: That officer gained weight while on duty and dealt with those thieves and criminals. When it now comes to the interview they are told that they cannot chase thieves. This practice is crooked and is demeaning more than the word itself for another person. It has to stop. As these officers are given such responsibility to investigate, when they are hired, it should be considered that at least this officer has experience in the field. He/she knows how to write cases, investigate and his/her conduct should be considered Honourable Mmusi. That is the point I am trying to make.

Health; I would like to thank the Minister of Health and Wellness that despite him being patient, he is also active and yearns to solve health issues but the system is going to fail him to achieve his goal. I thank him for this Mr Speaker looking at the fact that he was recently appointed to the Minister position, by looking at the number of hospitals he has covered now, patients he visited and statements he released, you can see that he cares about the lives of his people. The problem is he is a member to a wrong party and a wrong Government.


HONOURABLE MEMBER: He is better than Dikoloti.

MR MOTSAMAI: Mr Speaker, Ministry of Health and Wellness needs to be prioritised. In the meantime, at Ghanzi South we want a hospital at Charles Hill. At least we should have a primary hospital in the Charles Hill Sub-District so that the one at Ghanzi would be a district hospital for referrals. You may refer patients from Maun Mr Speaker. More should be done. While rushing to build a hospital at Charles Hill, department of Emergency Medical Services should open a unit at Charles Hill sub-district since there are many accidents occurring in that district so they can immediately attend to accident victims as they have the skills to do so. Rather than in the current situation Mr Speaker where a victim can die immediately after a car accident because he/she did not receive emergency care, that is the point I am driving home. Honourable Dr Matsheka that is

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why I am requesting that the funds you allocated for purchasing fighter jets should have been allocated to Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Mr Speaker, when talking about Health issues, I am talking about a situation like the one at Chobokwane. At Chobokwane village there is electricity but it has not yet been connected at the clinics. Nurses are forced to use torches for lighting in order to examine a patient.

There is no electricity at villages of Bere and Kacgae. People in those villages are dying but they are people like us Mr Speaker. I wonder what the problem is when other ministries return the money. If ministries have no use for funds, they should channel them to the Ministry of Health and Wellness so that we can buy medical supplies for the people and bring certain services to hospitals…


MOTION

ADJOURNMENT

MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT (MR MOLALE): Thank you Mr Speaker. I move that this House do now adjourn.

Question put and agreed to.

The Assembly accordingly adjourned at 6:00 p.m. until Thursday 13th February, 2020 at 2:00 p.m.

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HANSARD RECORDERS

Mr T. Gaodumelwe, Mr T. Monakwe, Ms T. Kebonang

HANSARD REPORTERS

Mr M. Buti, Ms N. Selebogo, Ms A. Ramadi, Ms D. Thibedi, Ms G. Baotsi, Ms N. Mokoka, Mr J. Samunzala, Ms Z. Molemi

HANSARD TRANSLATORS

Ms B. Ntisetsang, Ms M. Sekao, Ms B. Mosinyi, Ms V. Nkwane, Ms N. Kerobale, Ms K. Alepeng, Ms T. Motsau, Ms O. Phesodi, Mr K. Setswe

HANSARD LAYOUT DESIGNERSMr B. B. Khumanego, Mr D. T. Batshegi, Mr K. Rebaisakae

daily - botswana · not all done at once. that is p2 863 128.00 on primary school leaving...

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