10 Nov 2015

Political party whips have expressed mixed feelings following the State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) that was delivered by President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama on Monday

Botswana Congress Party (BCP) representative, Mr Bagalatia Arone said the address did not offer anything new to Batswana, but was a repetition of the previous SONAs.

He said the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) was the only new initiative mentioned, but that it was not clearly unpacked to Batswana to understand what it was and what it entailed and how it would be implemented as well as the amount of money that would be spent.

He said the President kept referring to it, but that there were no new initiatives mentioned on how job creation would be accelerated.

Mr Arone said job creation was only mentioned in terms of EDD, but with respect to ESP, the President did not mention the amount that would be used from foreign reserves

Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) whip, Mr Liakat Kablay said the ESP came at an opportune time to rescue Batswana from challenges they were going through.

Mr Kablay said for the first time the government has decided to tap foreign reserves to stimulate the economy.

He said the programme was geared towards stimulating the economy and diversifying it to accelerate job creation that the nation was decrying.

He said the stimulus programme  would also eradicate the backlog of government projects and house government employees who have been without accommodation.

Mr Kablay said Batswana should remain positive and utilise the opportunities that come with the programme  to improve their lives

Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) whip, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi said the address did not offer anything exiting to Batswana.

He said the challenges remain the same, and that it was unfortunate that President Khama did not indicate the budget for ESP.

He said there was no research about the ESP and that in the absence of that information, research and budget, it was difficult to appreciate it.

He said if the ESP was not going to address electricity and water challenges, whatever has been planned about ESP would not bring any positive results because all the projects centre around the availability of these two resources.

He said President Khama spoke mildly about water and should have dwelled more on water and electricity generation because without those there was no life.

“We need water, we need electricity for everything,” he said.

He said he appreciates the citizen economic empowerment, but said implementation has been a nightmare and that such promises have proven empty in the previous SONAS.

Mr Mmolotsi said the President has in the previous SONAs stated that premier league players would be paid but to no avail. “We were hoping to see real economic empowerment coming with the stimulus thing,” he said.

Mr Mmolotsi said figures have become a norm in the President’s speech especially with regards to CEDA projects, but there was no clear picture as to which projects were successful and which ones were collapsing. Ends