04 Feb 2021

This year’s national budget passes the burden of the country’s economic challenges onto the pockets of Batswana, Leader of the Opposition, Mr Dumelang Saleshando has said.

Responding to the budget speech presented by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, Mr Saleshando said the country instead needed more innovative solutions to strengthen the economy and improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged Batswana.

Mr Saleshando said the opposition was against the increment of value added tax (VAT), the fuel levy, Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) rental hike, as well as the introduction of the sweetened products levy and the taxation of second hand vehicles which he described as regressive steps and a burden on the poor.

He said the country needed a coherent industrialisation programme with proper timelines and targets to avoid the constant repetition without implementation of proposed projects such as the Lobatse Leather Park.

Acknowledging that the country faced increased COVID-19 disease burden, Mr Saleshando also said the opposition wanted the country to immediately procure COVID-19 vaccines and work on coordinating its rollout.

The Maun West legislator added that the country needed a centre for infectious disease control that could always be prepared to prevent health pandemics, and work on the development of vaccines domestically as was the case with animal vaccination programmes done by the Botswana Vaccine Institute.

He also said the country had been slow to procure COVID-19 vaccines, which had not been the case before when the country under the leadership of former

President Dr Festus Mogae was the regional pioneer in the provision of antiretroviral treatment during the battle against the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the early 2000s.

He said greater clarity should have been given on how the funds set aside to combat COVID-19 had been spent over the past year.

Mr Saleshando decried the continued shortage of important health instruments such as ventilators.

Mr Saleshando also said younger people should be given employment priority in the civil service and programmes such as the Youth Development Fund be restructured to accommodate all who were passionate entrepreneurs including the elderly who displayed the ability to engage in commercial production.

He also called for the independence of oversight institutions such as the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), in order to ensure their efficient operation and to protect funds from leaking from the economy through criminal means.ENDS