08 Feb 2015

The minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Kenneth Matambo says opposition MPs are wrong to suggest that government uses Ipelegeng Programme as a form of employment creation.

In his debate of the budget speech in Parliament on Thursday February 5, the MP of Francistown South Mr Wynter Mmolotsi had charged that government seems to view Ipelegeng as employment rather than concentrating on creating more jobs.

However, responding to MPs comments on the budget speech, the minister explained that Ipelegeng remains an initiative used for relieving impacts of poverty on poor people, not job creation.

“Government is doing something about employment creation. It is a process,” said the minister.

Mr Matambo explained that government believes that employment creation should be done in the private sector rather than the public sector.

“The philosophy of our government is not to balloon the civil service, but instead create a conducive environment for the private sector to create more jobs,” said the minister.

While the minister said government will continue to offer additional jobs whenever vacancies become available to implement government programmes, he expressed disappointment at opposition MPs whom he said criticise the budget speech without offering alternatives to what the government was doing.

Only six MPs debated the budget speech, which was presented on Monday February 2, before the minister’s response. ENDS