04 Feb 2021

Opposition Members of Parliament, Ngami MP, Mr Carter Hikuama and Okavango representative, Mr Kenny Kapinga have expressed displeasure with the budget proposals presented by Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka.

The said the budget was not friendly towards the disadvantaged due to the taxes and levies imposed by government in an attempt to recover costs in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two MPs said government should have focused on protecting the marginalised.

Mr Hikuama said the majority of the country’s employed earned low wages, and that with value added tax (VAT), fuel levy and other cost recovery measures increased, the value of workers’ salaries would be further eroded.

He said the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) was opposed to the manner in which the Ipelegeng programme was structured.

He said their idea was to have a more coherent public works programme that could benefit those employed. He added that they should be empowered to transform their livelihoods from poverty.

Mr Hikuama said instead of focusing on towns and large villages, the Ipelegeng programme should be working on improving cattle posts and communal farming areas in order for them to become viable production areas.

He also said government often builds modern health facilities, but does not equip them with the infrastructure necessary for their success in assisting people.

He cited Mahalapye District Hospital, saying it was designated  as an orthopaedic referral centre, but without sufficient equipment availed for health practitioners to sufficiently execute their task.

For his part, Mr Kapinga decried the wastage of public funds reported by the minister in his budget. He  called on government to establish proper initiatives to curb leakages in government financing of projects.

He also said parastatals were underperforming because  people were appointed to the top echelons of such institutions based on political patronage, as opposed to selecting the most capable persons on merit.

Mr Kapinga said the decision by government to focus on commercial agriculture as communicated through the budget could disadvantage small scale subsistence farmers in his constituency.

He called on government to give incentives to civil servants to work in remote areas such as those in his constituency.

He said many qualified professionals preferred to work in the more developed areas of the country, leading to Okavango having lower numbers per capita of health workers than other areas.

Mr Kapinga also called for the decentralisation of services, stating that workers had to travel about 400 kilometres from some villages in his constituency to Maun to get assistance from the labour office in the case of industrial disputes.

He called for key services to be availed in Gumare. ENDS