20 Sep 2020

The winter session of the 12th Parliament concluded on Friday with the National Assembly approving the supplementary estimates of consolidated and development budget funds tabled by Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Thapelo Matsheka.

The supplementary budget request amounts to P2.74 billion in additional funds to be allocated to various ministries, including the Ministries of Health and Wellness, Agricultural Development and Food Security, Basic Education, Transport and Communications as well as Finance and Economic Development.

Dr Matsheka told the assembly that the Ministry of Health and Wellness had requested P1 billion in additional funds to finance critical and urgent interventions relating to combating and mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

“Funds they had initially mobilised, both under the ministry and the COVID-19 pandemic relief fund to address the effects of the pandemic, are getting depleted, hence the need to make an initial budgetary provision,” Dr Matsheka said.

A further P1.3 billion has been allocated to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in order to support the business sector through an industry support facility (ISF), which the minister said would be created under the existing COVID-19 pandemic relief fund.

“While the ISF will be centrally located within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, ministries will be allocated funds to support working capital needs of businesses under their respective sectors,” Dr Matsheka said.

He also revealed that through the P1.3 billion in the facility, P1 billion would be allocated to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry. He said P900 million would be for general business support and P100 million for informal sector support.

A further P100 million would be utilised through the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security to support farmers in small stock, horticulture and any other agricultural services affected during the pandemic.

“Under the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, an amount of P200 million is proposed to support the tourism industry, which is arguably the sector most severely affected by the pandemic,” Dr Matsheka said.

The Lobatse legislator also told Parliament that there would be a change in scope of existing projects as well as acceleration of implementation of projects in the eleventh National Development Plan (NDP 11) in line with the economic recovery and transformation plan.

“These include the commercialisation and increasing of the scale of agricultural production, the introduction of new initiatives under the Livestock Infrastructure Management Programme (LIMID) as well as the development of small stock market structures and supply chain management strategy under this programme,” Dr Matsheka said.

He said additional funds would support the Intergrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) programme for the 2020/21 cropping season.

“To ensure that the implementation of existing projects is not unduly disturbed, my ministry will continue to monitor the expenditure pattern under the development budget with a view of making necessary adjustments when needed,” Dr Matsheka revealed.

While MPs unanimously passed the supplementary budget, the parliamentary finance and estimates committee had expressed worry about a Ministry of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration request for approximately P37 million towards the refurbishment of Orapa House into a hub for digital technology research and development.

While appreciating the need to utilise Orapa House and subscribing to the vision of a knowledge based economy, committee chairperson, Kanye North MP, Mr Thapelo Letsholo told Parliament that they felt the P1 billion worth Botswana Innovation Hub building could serve the purpose as they had been informed that its current occupancy was 43 percent.

Mr Letsholo said alternative uses for Orapa House could be considered, but Parliament proceeded to vote against the recommendation of the committee, endorsing Minister Matsheka’s initial request for Orapa House to be turned into a digital technology hub.

Other recommendations that had come from Mr Letsholo’s committee were for the ISF instrument to be used to save businesses affected by COVID-19; support to enable schools to comply with mandatory COVID-19 protocols; procurement of necessary COVID-19 medical items and equipment; increasing agricultural production as well as accelerating infrastructure development. ENDS