01 Jul 2015

Botswana has expressed reservations on the proposed subscription fees for the African Union (AU) membership.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi said in an interview that Botswana’s reasons for not agreeing to the proposed formula were that finances have not been well accounted for, and that there was poor record keeping at the AU.

 “We will continue paying old fees until the money is well accounted for,” she said.

Dr Venson-Moitoi said Botswana alongside Egypt, Algeria and Libya were the only countries that openly disagreed on the proposed formula to be used for annual subscription fees.

The formula to be used, she said, depended on the economic strength of the country, challenges of a country, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per country, debt ratio and the capacity to pay. Dr Venson-Moitoi said this would disadvantage countries that had the capacity to pay and have sound GDP.

She said Botswana was already paying more money as compared to other countries, adding that the country paid P14 million per annum as subscription fee.

The minister further expressed reservations over the AU member states proposal to allow free movement of people and goods in Africa. According to the protocol, the free movement of people would facilitate intra-regional movement of people and goods.

Although, Minister Venson-Moitoi agreed that the protocol was important, as it would bring peace and benefit Africa by boosting trade through easing the movement of goods and people across Africa, she said a lot needs to be done to address its pros and cons.

She said Botswana’s position regarding the issues was to dialogue extensively on the removal of boundaries. She asked  how member states would curb cross border crime if people were to move freely in Africa.

“It is a good initiative but has a lot of implications because for some nations it can be a gateway to exploit the gains of other countries such as ours,” she said.

The foreign minister observed that the world was concerned with issues of human trafficking, poaching and illegal wildlife trafficking. She noted that illegal activities could become rife if goods and people move indiscriminately without regulated travel documents.

She said the country would have to consult Batswana extensively on the matter, as the protocol would have dire implications on the country’s resources.

“We are yet to consult the nation on matters of security with regards to the free movement of goods and people, so that Botswana does not become a trespassing route for criminal activities,” she said.

She said countries should learn from the European Union which was now embattled with bailing out its member Greece from a debt crisis, adding that African countries have domestic issues which they should sort out before cooperating on a higher magnitude. Ends