21 Feb 2016

Member of Parliament for Palapye, Mr Moiseraele Goya, says the budget speech gives people an idea of how government spends money.

Debating the 2016/17 budget speech on February 17, Mr Goya applauded the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning because in 2012, it educated Batswana about the budget speech.

Such meetings, he said, were a reflection of democracy. Therefore, Mr Goya encouraged private companies to engage Batswana in talks after the budget speech delivery, something that could help the finance ministry to come up with the budget to present in Parliament.

On other issues, he said Botswana had relationships with other countries hence the need to compare how such economies could affect that of Botswana before making any development plans.

On the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP), Mr Goya said the initiative was legitimate even though some people did not see such. He took a swipe at the opposition saying they had a tendency to oppose schemes welcomed by the general populace. 

Mr Goya, also Assistant Minister of Education and Skills Development, said some had even alleged that there would be corrupt practices stemming from the ESP but warned that any corrupt dealings would be dealt with accordingly.

Mr Goya expressed happiness that Palapye junior secondary school will be maintained.  He also welcomed the decision to purchase houses for teachers via Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) under the ESP as well as the upgrading of the Ratsie school.

Kgalagadi South MP, Mr Frans Van Der Westhuizen said government had a solid plan to improve lives.  Mr Van Der Westhuizen said in his poverty stricken Kgalagadi South constituency, people had taken up government schemes.

On other issues, he said the agricultural sector would go a long way in helping people in rural areas. He was also grateful for the telecommunication reach in such areas.

On corruption, he stated that international indexes had continued to show Botswana as the least corrupt country. He added that every Motswana should be committed to fight corruption. 

Again, he indicated that every Motswana with an Omang was entitled to use government schemes to improve their lives and that the BDP government also allowed every Motswana to seek land anywhere in the country. 

MP for Kanye North, Mr Patrick Ralotsia said Botswana was drought prone but politically the nation was stable. The secret to that, he said, was government’s proper management of the economy. 

Mr Ralotsia said the agriculture sector was affected by the drought because Batswana relied heavily on it and thus the decision by government to eradicate poverty via various schemes.

He added that government had never retrenched employees because of the recession like in other countries.

On security, he stated that without security, investors would feel unsafe in Botswana hence security equipment upgrades were necessary.

He also appealed to other members to encourage their constituencies to heed advice regarding farming.

Nonetheless, he requested government to look into injecting more money into the Ministry of Agriculture to enable them to undertake the necessary scientific assistance that would help resuscitate the agricultural sector. Ends