12 Feb 2019

Leader of Minority Opposition in Parliament, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe on Monday cast the views of his party, the Alliance for Progressives (AP) with regard to the budget speech that was presented to Parliament by finance and economic development minister Mr Kenneth Matambo last week.

In his presentation, Mr Gaolathe, who is also MP for Gaborone/Bonnington South, highlighted how the AP had bold ambitions for Botswana, which if realised could serve to restore the hope that many Batswana have lost.

Of the several dreams haboured by his party for Botswana, he cited a 10 per cent growth rate of the economy year on year for the next 30 to 40 years; the result of which would be achieving double the size of the economy every seven years.

“We believe this to be possible, including driving non-mineral exports to at least 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and shrinking unemployment levels from 19 per cent to less than 10 per cent within six years,” he said, noting further that under the AP, manufacturing output would be augmented to 20 per cent of GDP and making Botswana a transport hub for the 277-million strong SADC market.

In addition, the AP leader observed that the party envisaged a new Botswana with no monopoly for the diamond and beef sectors; a scenario that he said would unleash the potential, as well as greatly enhance the efficiency of the sectors.

Further to that, Mr Gaolathe said it remained crucial for the country to tap into the tremendous potential of the services sector.

Citing an example, he said facilitating the growth and development of the tourism sector would engender thousands of jobs and also produce a systematic reversal of inequalities between the rural and urban communities as well as between the poor and the wealthy.

Under the AP’s rule, the party’s leader said Botswana would need to forge strategic alliances in respect of all key sectors of the economy.

“These strategic alliances in the form of flagship projects can catalyse sustained creation of decent paying jobs in a grand scale, as well as begin to lay the foundation for equitable prosperity in the long run,” he elaborated.

Mr Gaolathe nonetheless observed how the ideal Botswana would not come about on its own, saying it was crucial that the nation started now to manifest its deep conviction to democratic principles such as that of transparency.

He said the actions today should already reflect the ideal Botswana as well as offer renewed hope for restored trust in leadership and institutions.

In light of the prevailing cost of living, he said the AP, just like it did in the preceding year, recommended an increase to about P1 500 per month in Old Age pensions; adding with regard to public service salaries that the party’s view was that the salaries had lost touch with the prevailing international competitive dictates.

He said the AP was of the view that the stagnation of pay over the last decade had less to do with the occasional global economic meltdown, but rather with relational stand-offs between government and trade unions.

Regarding the role of the existing parastatal organisations in efforts to realise the ideal Botswana, Mr Gaolathe described the bulk of them as being ill-configured to make the new Botswana possible.

He said some of the sub-sectors within which some of these parastatals were players were not structured to catalyse the ideal Botswana and make it attainable.

Citing the water sub-sector as an example, he said one of the biggest constraints to the nation’s transformation agenda was the limited availability of water for human consumption, for the take-off of the agricultural revolution, for mining and development purposes in general.

He noted that despite the efforts and strides being made by Water Utilities Corporation, the nation would not achieve the objective of adequacy of water supply for human and agricultural needs at affordable cost without a fundamental shift in the structure and configuration of the water sub-sector.

Proposing an alternative development budget as envisaged by the AP, Mr Gaolathe said the party proposed a P3 billion increase in development expenditure, with the party’s initial pledge being the establishment of sector funds.

He said AP acknowledged the need to cut what they believed were not pressing needs, saying they would also cut through managing cost overruns as well as by containing corruption.

“This, we believe, can give us a real saving of at least 30 per cent of the development budget per year,” he said.

On the recurrent budget, the AP leader said they would increase it based on the party’s proposal for a restructuring of how government worked, with salaries rising by seven to 25 per cent depending on levels.

He noted that salary increases would, in the ensuing years, decline, and that the AP government would put in place a mechanism to set up a transparent manner for adjusting salaries based on inflation, performance and exceptional skill. ENDS