25 Feb 2021

Parliament on Wednesday adopted the report of the Finance and Estimates Committee on the Appropriation (2021-22) Bill which was tabled by Kanye North Member of Parliament, Mr Thapelo Letsholo.

Tabling the motion, Finance and Estimates Committee chairperson, Mr Letsholo said while they understood that the recent national budget was presented within the context of wider domestic and global negative disruptions to the economy, some ideas could have been infused.

In particular, Mr Letsholo said his committee was concerned about the increase in levies and taxes. He said they believed that Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) should improve existing tax collection systems to increase revenue without the need to increase taxes in the short-term.

Mr Letsholo said they noted that there had been severe strains in the economy due to weakened global demand for major exports and reduced consumption in a number of sectors leading to a drop in government revenue and a changing of priorities of spending and commitments.

He said they realised that the budget spoke to the improvement of tax collection systems, exploring new forms of raising revenue, upgrading inefficient procurement systems to curb wastage and service delivery to ensure that the public was getting good value for money.

Mr Letsholo said his committee believed that there was a need for better service delivery in the public sector, and that the quality of service should also be improved in the private sector. He added that there should be punitive measures visited upon those who partake in the wastage.

He said COVID-19 afforded the country an opportunity to transform the economy and overhaul the education sector with a ‘21^st century curriculum right from Standard One.”

The committee, Mr Letsholo said, also believed that the right sizing of the public sector was premature. He said it should have been preceded by a study of the efficiency of the civil service.

Mr Letsholo said they preferred more targeted spending on healthcare and expressed concern on the level of spending on the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security.He further said they were concerned that investment in sustainable environment under the development budget was low for a sector that could be of high value if there was better investment in solar energy, green technology and water. He also said it had high potential for job creation.

The Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Dr Thapelo Matsheka said the budget process had been inclusive and consultative, but accepted the report as advisory to the budget.

He urged Parliament to understand that the imposition of new taxes was carefully considered, and that when an economy was not exporting for a considerable amount of time, foreign reserves would go down since the funds were needed to supplement the reduction in government revenue.

Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said while cabinet welcomed the oversight, he urged the committee to work closely with the Minister of Finance and Economic Development in order to get a better understanding of the reasoning behind budgetary ideas before releasing recommendations.

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Eric Molale said some of the recommendations could not be implemented in the current sitting of Parliament.

He gave the example of the reduction of state owned enterprises. Mr Molale noted that parliamentary statutes had created the enterprises and that any changes would require National Assembly approval. Ends