28 Jul 2013

Parliament has adopted the report on the Botswana Development Corporation’s (BDC) Fengyue glass manufacturing project.

Presented by the chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee on the inquiry, who is also the MP for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile, the motion requested Parliament to resolve that the report of the special select committee of inquiry for the year 2012 into the BDC’s Fengyue glass manufacturing be adopted.

Debating the motion, MPs applauded the select committee for a job well done. They also unanimously agreed that something should be done about the report.

The MP for Gaborone West South, Mr Botsalo Ntuane said the work of the committee would be in vain if no corrective action was taken at the conclusion of such hard work.

He said Batswana wanted something to be done lest they lost faith in the institution of governance, specifically Parliament. “The eyes of the nation are on the organs of government specifically Parliament. What is the purpose of whistleblowing if no meaningful action is taken afterwards, if no tangible follow-up is done, will other people tomorrow be willing to risk their careers and report on issues of malfeasance in state owned entities, this cannot be business as usual,” he stressed.

Mr Ntuane also said there was a crisis of oversight because of the manner in which boards were established. He said there were some board members who have turned it into a career, as they rotate around all the parastatals. He added that some people were overstretched and were thus unable to fulfil their mandate to oversee.

Gaborone Central legislator, Mr Dumelang Saleshando said the manner in which the BDC board handled the glass manufacturing project was appalling. He said one of the problems is that board members are not chosen on merit, but on account of political affiliation. “We are no longer a meritorious society; we are a society that wants political associates and that is why in many other institutions you will find board members who sit there with absolutely no value,” he said.

Mr Saleshando said when board members apply themselves ministers interfere, adding that this has proved a dire strait in the Palapye glass project. He noted that it was embarrassing for an entity such as BDC to be surrounded by controversy, as it is the government’s major investment wheel, the flagship and the pride of the nation in terms of corporate governance.

“This is a company that does not observe the minimum standards of corporate governance,” said Mr Saleshando, adding that  “when they choose partners they are unable to know due diligence, not because they don’t have the competence, but because they are driven by the motive to sideline citizens.

And for any government that has its major investment wheel displaying such tendencies ought to be embarrassed by it,” he said. Kanye North MP, Mr Kentse Rammidi applauded the media for having brought the news about the irregularities at BDC to the public despite authorities trying to block them.

“If we seriously wanted to fight corruption and news of corruption appeared in the papers, the most important thing is not to ask about who leaked the news, but to verify if there is any truth in what is being said,” he said.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, who is also a specially elected MP, Ms Dorcas Makgatho-Malesu said as the minister responsible for the project, she takes the contents of the report seriously and would look at ways of dealing with them.

“I want to confirm to this house that the government is not sitting idle on this matter. I have had assurance from the minister responsible for the DCEC that even as we speak, DCEC is on this matter and they have already made a trip to China,” she said.

Ms Makgatho-Malesu  said before making any rash decisions, MP’s should look at how big the matter is. ENDS