Response to the 2014 Budget
| Friday February 7, 2014 15:11
Unfortunately, the swearing in of Dr Habaudi Hobona was deliberately boycotted by the President of the republic, who had in the past ensured that he was present in the House when members who had won by-elections took their oath, starting with Tshekedi Khama in 2008, followed by Fidelis Molao in 2010, Bernard Bolele in 2012 and Ngaka Ngaka last year. When Parliament convened at 2pm on February 3, President Khama was within the parliamentary buildings. He chose not to be in the House but to rather sit in the Speakers office and listen to proceedings from there and only entered Parliament after Hobona had taken her oath, an act of utmost political intolerance by the most senior citizen.
As I stated in my response to the 2013/14 budget speech, Botswana has adopted a static template that was assumed to be relevant during the early days of our independence by ministers responsible for finance at the time. All the Ministers who have led the ministry to date have religiously clung to the same template. What has changed over the years are just the annual provisions which are adjusted upwards as and when there are increases in the available revenue. When one is looking for innovation and the use of the budget as a transformative tool to effect meaningful change, the Botswana budget is no such place for one to look. As I indicated in my response to the budget speech of last year, Minister Kenneth Matambo had adopted the same table of contents that was presented by the late Mmusi in 1983. The only difference is the magnitude in the figures presented. We hope to get different results by adopting the tried and tired approach of the 1970s.
Today as we debate the 2014/15 budget we should bear in mind that not all money will be put to good use as there are those who feel “it is their time to eat” public funds as there is no gatekeeper.
The Ministry of Education, Skills and Development has been one of the major recipients of the public purse for many years. In spite of heavy public investment of the sector, education has remained one of the poorest performers. The results at all streams have been dismal as indicated by the recent 2013 Junior Certificate results. The results at all levels of our education in the period 2009 to 2013 can only be described as catastrophic. This is the period mainly under the Khama regime and presided over by Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi. While Botswana has for many years been internationally applauded as a paragon of virtue due to its relatively stable democracy, and an economy that has been internationally regarded as being amongst the best in Africa, the standard of our education has dismally failed to reflect and live up to these virtues. With the continuing decline in results in our public schools, the good that this nation has built over the years teeters on the brink of collapse.
As for what could be the cause of the decay in our education system, the BCP has identified that there are a number of factors at play. First, it is the Minister of Education herself who has been kept in the same Ministry regardless for her failure to deliver. What is interesting is that as usual, she has continued with her habit of blaming everyone else except herself. She completely disregards the governance principle that when it’s not well in any organisation, the buck stops at the doorstep of the leader (Chief Executive), in this case the Minister.
To her credit, Minister Venson-Moitoi acknowledged this sorry state of affairs only recently. We have made our position on these issues known to the government in the numerous press conferences that we have held as well as press releases, but this government has turned a deaf ear. Madam Speaker, one of the main challenges whose solution has evaded this government, is employment creation. More and more of our people continue to swell the ranks of the unemployed even in the midst of a growing mining industry. Some of the policies perused by government have been responsible for this state of affairs. The increase of Ipelegeng beneficiaries, destitute numbers, internship and introduction of Tirelo Sechaba are a clear admission that government has failed to create jobs in the last five years. The situation is worsening. The level of support under ISPAAD and other poverty eradication programmes are a mere confirmation that unemployment has reached a dangerous level where it threatens the livelihood of citizens. The government has created parking zones for the youth where they will have no impact on the economy and also not add to their skills such as with Tirelo Sechaba, where they will be allowed to serve for long periods with no value addition to their skills.
It is common knowledge that during the last quarter of 2007, the world was engulfed by the global financial crisis and economic recession. Botswana was not spared. Governments across the world pre-occupied themselves with taking strategic measures aimed at enabling their countries to recover as quickly as possible from the devastating recession, and cushion their peoples against the resultant unemployment and its negative impact on peoples’ living standards. For example, the United States government availed financial loans to its auto manufacturing companies so that they could avoid layoffs and retrenchments. It also set aside billions of dollars for the repair and maintenance of public infrastructure exclusively by American companies. The United Kingdom availed funds to its banking sector so that it could continue giving loans to deserving private sector investors.
Here in Botswana, the government of President Khama who took office on 1st April 2008, left the economy on autopilot and instead identified the following, as its areas of priority and focus: establishing the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services and the transformation of Botswana into a security freak country; controlling the sale prices and trading hours of liquor; and
President Khama’s impromptu initiatives also commonly referred to as pet projects, which encompass Ipelegeng, the housing appeal, backyard gardening (for which enthusiasm seems to be now fast fading away), blanket distribution whilst government hospitals, countrywide, continue to experience shortage of bed linen and blankets, just to mention some of them. While the BDP government pre-occupied itself with the aforementioned priorities, the levels of unemployment worsened, especially among the youth, thereby increasing the numbers of Batswana wallowing in poverty. The Khama regime chose to ignore the numerous clarion calls we made over the past six years about the unacceptable high levels of unemployment during the successive budget sessions and State of the Nation Addresses. Instead, the Khama regime continued focusing on its zero value adding priorities. As if that was not enough, during the last State of the Nation Address in November 2013, the BDP government announced that it will, with effect from April 1, 2014, reintroduce yet another recycled old programme, Tirelo Sechaba, as a palliative relief for the unemployed youth.
The informal sector, which is made up of micro manufacturers and service providers, plays a vitally important role in every economy. It is, as some people say, the breeding ground for entrepreneurship insight and the launch pad of shrewd entrepreneurship. It is also a potent vehicle for making goods and services as easily accessible as possible to consumers. In recognition of the informal sector’s contribution to entrepreneurship development, employment creation and positive impact on peoples’ lives, the BCP Administration will create a more business friendly environment in which informal businesses can take root and flourish.
The BCP will invest in upgrading our infrastructure such as roads, bridges, public schools and health facilities. This will allow Botswana to compete with other investment destinations in the region and abroad. The infrastructure upgrade will have a clear bias for citizen owned contractors. Where the scope of the project to be undertaken requires foreign expertise, the contract will only be allocated as a joint venture with a local contractor.
The BCP is committed to introducing a law on citizen economic empowerment. We cannot as a nation continue to be spectators in the management of our own economy. Government has continued to favour foreigners against citizens even in areas where such foreigners do not have any competitive edge over Batswana. A case in point is the privatisation of the Banyana Farms, where foreigners were allocated farms ahead of established commercial Batswana farmers.
The BCP Administration will finance its job creation strategy and other projects on strategic importance and national interest from considerable savings that it will make by minimising project cost overruns, which run into billions of Pula annually, and from rationalising some of the huge budget allocations for the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services, the Botswana Defence Force, Ipelegeng, Backyard Gardening and Blankets under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, as well as from the rationalisation of the numerous public enterprises that the BDP Government continues to proliferate at great expense to the economy.
To promote savings by households and raise the required capital to drive our business sector, we will introduce a compulsory pension scheme for all workers. Presently, the main pension fund is for the public sector and there is need to expand the net to the private sector. This will also help to reduce the burden of providing for pensioners who rely on government for sustenance upon retirement.
The pension fund industry in this country boasts of over 35 billion pula with each fund being allowed to invest over 75 percent of its portfolio off shore. This means Botswana is exporting potential jobs worth about P27 billion. Under the BCP the current arrangement would be changed into a 50%-50% so that over P18 billion instead of P9 billion as is the case now is invested locally. This will further create confidence in the local economy when citizens of the country show their confidence by investing here. That arrangement will create significant local jobs. Massive housing program and road construction in addition to other infrastructure can be funded on long term basis from this source.
One of the key impediments in the key impediments to the operation of profitable businesses is the rental costs, both for business and residential. To address this challenge we will reform the land tenure system to ensure that available undeveloped land held by absentee landlords is either developed by the owners or handed back to government to address the demand for land. We will accelerate the servicing of land to allow adequate supply and bring down the cost of land and rentals.
Madam Speaker, the opposition parties as well as the civil society are concerned by the attitude of the President towards the labour movement in general. Since he came to power in 2008, he has not held a single meeting with organised labour especially BOFEPUSU to get their views concerning the state of affairs of this country, yet he meets organised business twice or more per year. Cumulatively, he must have met the latter more than ten times since 2008, but not once with the labour movement. Government and private sector need labour to ensure a successive economic transformation of this country. The exclusion of one of these three components can only lead to long term disaster of the economy. It is time the President accepts the legitimacy of labour and plays the game by its rules instead of abusing public workers. Democratic values can only be enhanced when labour is fully given its rightful place in the economic arena. We call upon government to engage labour constructively as a matter of principle. We find it disingenuous for Minister Matambo to state in the budget that there is need for the bargaining council to speed up its consultations, when his government has actively frustrated the work of the bargaining council.
The BDP budgeting has remained constant while the challenges facing us kept changing and getting more complex and sophisticated. There is therefore a need to depart from the BDP way of budgeting and come up with a bold, innovative and expansive budget.
The BCP has a plan that can help to turn around the fortunes of our country and save the future for our younger generation.
DUMELANG SALESHANDO*
*Dumelang Saleshando BCP President and Leader of Opposition