14 Apr 2014

Parliament has been informed that Competition Authority (CA) has developed a communications, advocacy and policy which detail how the authority educates and informs the public about its existence and its mandate.

Some of the strategies employed included holding consultations with sector regulators, holding educational meetings such as annual national competition conferences, competition day celebrations, kgotla meetings, exhibitions as well as both radio and television talk shows.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Dorcus Makgatho-Malesu said the authority published a quarterly newsletter, had a bi-weekly column in a widely circulated newspaper, held regular press conferences and public lectures on competition issues.

She explained that some of the activities segmented and targeted a specific stakeholder such as the business community, technocrats, judiciary, media and students while others are general in nature and are aimed at the wider public.

The Authority is also equally active on the internet through its website and social-media platforms. She informed parliament that Botswana High Court judges also underwent training in competition law in Gaborone in 2013 along with judges from SADC member states.

The Authority also published two annual reports in the financial years 2011/12 and 2012/13. The minister said the CA is informed by its Communication and Advocacy Strategy in evaluating the impact of communication strategies.

She said at every CA’s public interaction activity, processes and impact of the activity are evaluated for the purposes of improving the rendered service. Such evaluation entails collecting and analysing feedback from the stakeholders at various stages.

In the last survey that was done in Maun, 93 per cent of the respondents indicated that they know the mandate of the CA, 97 per cent indicated that the CA is playing a critical role in the economy, the house heard.

Meanwhile, the minister said while 42 per cent of the respondents indicated that they have a favourable impression of the work of the Authority so far, 55 per cent indicated that it is too early to say and three per cent were non-committal.

South East South MP, Mr Odirile Motlhale had asked the minister to state what the CA is doing to educate the public about their existence and their mandate. He had also wanted to know how the Authority measures the impact of their strategy. Ends