11 Feb 2016

Member of Parliament for Francistown West, Mr Ignatius Moswaane, says some opposition members should desist from discouraging Batswana from using government programmes.

Debating the 2016/17 Budget Speech Wednesday, Mr Moswaane said it was wrong for some members to do so while they benefited from such programmes.

He commended Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Kenneth Matambo, saying this year’s budget showed that government would continue to address challenges facing the nation.

Mr Moswaane said Botswana was a peaceful country, which accommodated other nations and would continue to do so because the country depended on some nations in terms of development issues and investment.

MP for Mahalapye West, Mr Joseph Molefe, said he was happy that the finance minister had outlined some challenges that continued to face the country and how government would continue to address them.

On the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP), Mr Molefe said the initiative offered Batswana an opportunity to take part in stimulating the country’s economy.
He said the programme would benefit both big and small companies who would in turn create jobs for other Batswana.

However, he said it was important for the programme to be efficiently implemented and monitored, adding  that implementers should be allocated sufficient funds to drive it.
Again, he indicated that while the programme was expected to stimulate the economy, it was important for it to focus on manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

On the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security proposed budget of P3.59 billion, Mr Molefe said it was important for government to continue availing resources for institutions such as the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) as well as the Botswana Police Service and the Botswana Prisons Services owing to their outdated equipment and dilapidated infrastructure to improve their capabilities in their respective disciplines.

MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, pleaded with Parliament to consider airing important events such as the budget speech and the State-Of-the Nation Address outside working hours.
That, Mr Keorapetse argued, would enable Batswana to be part of the process and appreciate what the country had achieved.

He said his constituents also wanted ‘live broadcast’ accorded to the Leader of Opposition when delivering the alternative view, just like the finance minister as well as the president when they delivered their speeches.

He said in taking Parliament to the people, there was need to broadcast its proceedings live for Batswana to appreciate debates by their respective MPs.

He said this year’s budget was disappointing in that it did not adequately address key problems facing the economy which included unemployment or under employment, poverty, wealth and income inequalities, inadequate access to services such as sanitation, electricity, water, lack of access to business and economic opportunities.

On the African Centre for Economic Transformation, he argued that it talked about the economy that could only be transformed when there was growth with depth in diversifying African economies, production to make exports competitive, increased farms productivity as well as upgrade technology, but these he said were not adequately addressed by the budget.

On decline in commodity prices in the international market which had affected minerals such as copper, he argued that one would have expected the minister to give an update on the number of jobs that had been shared as a result of plummeting of prices, the number of jobs lost in the diamond, copper and coal sectors.

“Year in and out we hear budgets where there are no figures such as the number of jobs that the economy has shared and even the target on the number of jobs would be created. It is also worrying that we do not hear how adverse effects of commodity prices decline are going to be mitigated,” he said.

He further argued that the budget did not address issues of industrial relation, adding that workers were unhappy, due to unfavourable conditions of service. Ends