26 Mar 2017

The Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi has asked Parliament to approve a budget total of P7.76 billion for the 2017/18 financial year.
Presenting the budget proposals, the minister requested P5 billion for the recurrent budget and P2.76 billion for the development budget.
The minister said P152.7 million of the recurrent budget has been allocated to the Ministry Headquarters from which Legal Aid Botswana has been allocated P32 178 110 for its activities during the 2017/18 financial year.
Minister Kgathi further requested P2.9 billion for the recurrent budget of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).
He further said P135 738 200 has been allocated for equipment maintenance and running.
A further P97 743 530 has been earmarked for training, and the minister said the budget has been increased by 96 per cent to emphasise the organisations key strategy of capacity building and human resource development through recruitment, training and development and retention of key personnel.
As for the Botswana Police Service, Minister Kgathi requested P1 601 880 420 and a further P102 363 640 for internal travelling which has been attributed to the various and vast assignments that the Botswana Police Service has to carry out throughout the country.
The minister said P39 547 290 was for equipment maintenance and running.
He further requested P45 611 970 for special expenditure.
As for the Department of Prisons and Rehabilitation, the minister requested P327 734 460 and a further P2 905 320 for special expenditure.
Regarding the development budget, the minister said P43 263 734 has been allocated to Ministry Headquarters, and that the amount would be spent on construction of a border patrol route which has been budgeted at P6 million.
Minister Kgathi explained that the project was comprised of reaffirmation of the shared international boundaries and construction of patrol routes along borders.
He said his ministry has collaborated with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in de-bushing the patrol routes along the international boundaries through the Ipelegeng Programme.
As for the ministry’s Information and Communication Technology system, the minister requested P20 million saying the project would cater for the second phase of the installation of a data and biometric system in the Dukwi Refugee Camp to enhance registration, management and demographics of all refugees, including issuance of machine readable identity cards which has a relationship with the control of cross border migration.
He also requested P15.5 million for the development of the Dukwi Refugee Camp which includes construction of staff houses at the Dukwi Detention Centre, the upgrading of the Dukwi Refugee Camp Clinic and fleet expansion.
The minister also asked Parliament to approve P1.7 million for the procurement of a Case Management System and software licenses for Legal Aid Botswana.
As for the BDF, the minister requested P2 377 240 912 saying out of the amount, P1 614 581229 was for defence equipment.
Minister Kgathi said P626 399 170 would be shared between air assets, vehicles and communication equipment, andb that the balance of P136 260 513 would be used for infrastructure projects.
Furthermore, the minister requested P312 975 000 for the police to undertake a number of development activities.
He said the funds were to cover ongoing infrastructure projects such as the building of 130 housing units in Gaborone Block 10, 28 houses at Letlhakane, 14 houses at Tsabong, five houses in Molapowabojang, five houses in Mmadinare and the purchase of 100 houses in Gaborone and Francistown.
The minister said the budget would also be utilised for the construction of police stations in Gaborone Block 10, Mmathubudukwane, Maitengwe and Semolale as well as completion of the forensic laboratory, police posts, Botswana Police Service Hangar and maintenance of six police estates.
He also requested P20 million to purchase new vehicles for the police and P65 million to fund the expansion and upgrading of police telecommunication and radio communication network equipment, including the roll out of the Computerised Human Resource Management System to all districts and stations.
In addition, he said P26 million would be allocated to the Department of Prison and Rehabilitation out of which P10 million would be used to complete the ongoing Prisoner Information Management System (PIMS) and its related security infrastructure.
Upon completion, PIMS would provide a more comprehensive monitoring and safety environment for both offenders and prison officers, he said.
He further requested P16 771 400 for the provision of maximum security fencing in various prisons throughout the country, together with prison security equipment.
The funds will also be used for the establishment of a Rehabilitation Centre in Lobatse, he said. ENDS