10 Jun 2013

Parliamentary Special Select Committee of Enquiry into the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) and decline of Botswana beef industry have completed a marathon hearings programme at different localities throughout the country and have now proceeded abroad on the third leg of its hearings effective from June 1 - 18.

The trip entails In Loco visits, extensive briefings and inspections of BMC’s subsidiaries and commercial operations located in Cape Town (Table Bay Cold Storage) and BMC (UK) Holdings in London.

A press release from the National Assembly says a critical part of the Committee’s programme entails meeting with European Union officials at its trade division in Brussels and the Directorate General for Health and Consumers also located in Brussels.

“The Committee’s enquiry process is part and parcel of Parliament’s mandate to undertake and conduct the scrutiny of the executive and all state agencies and enterprises, for the better strengthening of good governance, Parliamentary democracy, and accountability to the citizens of Botswana,” the release says.

Parliament on November 23, 2012, resolved to set up a Special Select Committee to investigate the declining performance of the BMC and the beef industry in Botswana.

The Committee has been conducting public hearings of various witnesses at the National Assembly headquarters since February 2013.

The Committee, which comprises of nine members accompanied by two other members of the secretariat, is expected back home on June 21, 2013.ENDS