12 Feb 2015

Parliament has approved the budget proposal for the Ministry for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration. 

When responding to issues parliamentarians raised regarding the budget, Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Philip Makgalemele appreciated all legislators for their insightful input in the debates.

He noted that a number of legislators had raised concerns regarding the seriousness with which the Public Service Bargaining Council was taken with some legislators saying government was applying a top down approach and thwarting its purpose of existence. 

He said it must be remembered that the council was still at its infancy and was bound to experience teething problems that he assured will be duly addressed.

“The salary negotiations are underway and hopefully we will conclude them before the end of this financial year so that public servants benefit,” he said.

On the review of the Public Service Act which some legislators expressed that the government can do with the existing one without any alterations for fear of instilling fear in civil servants, Mr Makgalemele allayed their concerns adding that relevant stakeholders were consulted including the public service unions to get their input and they gave the review a nod.

Further he said a number of failure concerns were raised regarding the Poverty Eradication Programme. He said the government will do everything in its power in the coming financial year to eradicate poverty. He said under poverty eradication programme there are 45 business models which can be adopted given dynamics of a locality but politicians have a tendency of dwelling on backyard gardens failures in order to score political points which he advised they must do away with if they want to move Botswana forward. 

“We are still open to further suggestions on how we can best eradicate poverty, people are free to suggest what can best work in their areas,” he said. 

He said to solve some of the key challenges, government will consider working with commercial entities to solve lack of market issues.

Earlier on debating the budget proposal Minister of Health, Ms Dorcus Makgato said government should work on enhancing Poverty Eradication Programme and that communities should be encouraged to form corporate societies under this programme . “We must form strategic linkages with relevant stakeholders, build base with Ministry of Trade and Industry to address some of the challenges,” she said. 

Ghanzi North MP, Mr Noah Salakae said public officers’ salaries must be increased adding statistics from the central statistics office (CSO) show that the cost of living is high as reflected in the Consumer Price Index. 

On DISS), he said the security service organ must be dissolved and be absorbed by other security services such as the police and form a new reputable organisation.

Mahalapye East MP and Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said pardoning of ex-convicts should be done at district council level rather than be done by the State President because it takes a long time for their files to be processed for the reason that the Office of the President is busy. 

Gaborone North MP, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa said to curb the plight of low wages a Special Fund should be created to assist public service employees with finances at low interest rates. He called for improvement of financial motivation in the workplace adding that bonuses can be used to boost morale of a workforce. 

When it is someone’s birthday give them something to motivate them as it is practiced in other countries, he said. 

Francistown East MP, Mr Buti Billy said DISS must be strengthened  because a country that is without such an entity can be easily penetrated by security threats citing Boko Haram as an example. He called for legislators to refrain from politicising Public Service Bargaining Council Issues and let the establishment function without political interference.

Shashe West MP, Mr Fidelis Molao said DISS is necessary and that public relations practitioners must be roped in to clean the image of the security organ adding that Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) must be empowered with more finances to enable it to effectively carry out its mandate.  

ENDS