27 Feb 2019

Parliament on February 26 wrapped up the debate on budget proposals for the Ministry for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration with legislators calling for reforms in different sectors of governance.

Contributing to the debate, MP for Palapye, Mr Moiseraele Goya observed that while the arrangement to allow public officers to own and run businesses while still in the employ of government was a noble idea, it was critical that the officers be capacitated so that they could run their business ventures effectively.

The MP noted that capacitating the officers in managing businesses would pay off handsomely for the country as the business owners would resign from their government jobs when their businesses flourish, thereby creating opportunities for the unemployed to land jobs.

On a different matter, Mr Goya said the inclusion of teachers under the laws governing the rest of the public service needed reviewing, as it had brought about chaos for the teaching fraternity.

He said teachers’ work was unique, hence they needed their own Act to govern how they worked.

MP for Gaborone Central, Dr Phenyo Butale said the time had come for government to guarantee the independence of oversight institutions such as the DCEC, Ombudsman and the Office of the Auditor General.

He said as long as the institutions remained under the Office of the President, their independence would not be guaranteed; adding that they should instead be supervised from Parliament.

Dr Butale also spoke of digital migration, saying the Japanese model that had been adopted was not working for Botswana.

He noted that government had to withdraw the project and apologise to the nation that it had erred on the matter.

Maun West legislator, Mr Tawana Moremi also wondered what had happened to the digital migration project.

Further, he said government also needed to inform the nation on whether or not Vision 2036 was still being pursued.

MP for Ghanzi North, Mr Noah Salakae condemned the Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration ministry for being wasteful of government resources.

Calling for the ministry to consider reducing the number of deputy permanent secretaries within it to cut the wage bill, the MP said cabinet also needed trimming as it was too huge.

He said some ministries could be scraped off while others could be merged.

Mmathethe/Molapowabojang MP Dr Alfred Madigele noted that the Ministry of Health and Wellness was experiencing attrition and loss of skilled and experienced personnel due to, among other things, an uncompetitive pay structure.

He said with health issues being dynamic as evidenced by the country continuously registering new disease profiles, there was need for Botswana to be creative in handling issues pertaining to the ministry.

One of the ways to do this, Dr Madigele said, was to de-link the Ministry of Health and Wellness from the rest of the public service’s pay structure and pay personnel of the ministry more attractive salaries. ENDS