12 Feb 2020

Member of Parliament for Serowe West Mr Tshekedi Khama has said the 2020/2021 National Budget does not address aspirations of transformation agenda.

Debating the 2020/2021 budget in Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Khama, said the ruling party should come up with clear strategies and goals they would take to achieve a knowledge-based economy.

He said for the country to attain a knowledge-based economy, funds should be channeled towards research and development.

The budget allocated to the Ministry of Basic Education should also reflect those aspirations.

Mr Khama further said the country was faced with challenges such as the increasing crime and drug abuse, yet the budget was silent and added that more money should be channeled to those.

The police stations across the country are in a state of disrepair, he said adding that they were yet to receive inadequate funding while their counterparts at Botswana Defence Force (BDF) were given more funds.

MP Khama said the current administration made a mistake by removing weapons from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks as poaching had increased.

He said it had become evident that the BDF could not fight poaching the same way as the DWNP anti-poaching unit did.

Government, some years back introduced a programme aimed at empowering communities living within tourism areas, but Mr Khama said this failed as developments of Gcwihaba were halted, negatively affecting communities living nearby.

He further said the budget did not show any commitment from government to address climate change although it continued to affect the country.

Some parts of the country had been hit by drought and Mr Khama said there should be mitigations before the country was forced to come up with programmes aimed at sustaining the lives of those who had been negatively affected.

The legislator spoke against the acquisition of air assets, saying the money should be channeled towards education as the schools faced shortages of classrooms and textbooks.

He also said the ruling party in its campaign trail promised to create jobs through different sectors, but later said they only create an enabling environment.

MP Khama of the Botswana Patriotic Front said his party proposes a budget to partly privatise public schools to improve facilities as well as qualification to produce graduates of global standards.

He further called upon the development of renewable energy, taking advantage of the abundant sun the country enjoys.

MP Khama said tourism had potential and further argued that the lifting of the hunting ban had done more harm than good.

The southern part of the country does not have an airport, save for a small one in Jwaneng, yet the country aspires to be a tourism hub.

He further said there should be grassroots sports development facilities as not all pupils were academically gifted. ENDS