09 Dec 2021

Parliament should be independent, fully resourced and capacitated to successfully execute its mandate and hold the executive accountable.

 Francistown West MP, Mr Ignatius Moswaane said this in his State-of-the-Nation Address contribution recently. He said the separation of powers between the three arms of government was important.

The parliamentary oversight function, Mr Moswaane said, was one of the cornerstones of democracy as it was meant to hold the executive accountable for its actions and to ensure that it implemented policies in accordance with the laws and budget passed by Parliament.

Mr Moswaane said the upcoming constitutional review should consider making the legislative arm of government independent from the executive and separating the appointment of cabinet ministers from legislators within Members of Parliament.

“The appointment of the executive should not be fused within the legislators because a legislature in which large numbers of members hold ministerial offices is likely, all other things being equal, to be a pliant legislature,” he said.

He said the power to appoint members of the legislature to ministerial positions gave the appointing authority, in this case the President of the country, leverage over the legislature.

 Mr Moswaane also said the current system of appointing the executive undermined opposition parties and ruling party backbencher’s role to scrutunise and to perform oversight functions.

The Francistown West MP stated that it was important to have more independent oversight institutions.

Mr Moswaane also called on government to review the poverty eradication programme to realise its full  potential of uplifting Batswana.

 He said government should also review all programmes that were intended to empower Batswana.

Mr Moswaane also expressed skepticism about government’s efforts to root out corruption in the country, saying it was  institutionalised and involved the elites and influential members of the community.

He, however, said fighting corruption was fundamental to good governance and sustainable development.

He called on government to empower anti-corruption oversight institutions in an effort to ensure that corruption was effectively addressed.

Contributing to the debate, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse said the ministry was steadfast to transforming local authorities and improving their functionality.

Mr Autlwetse, who is also Specially elected Member of Parliament, said resources had  been invested in capacitating local authorities and ensuring that they  were financially independent.

He said it was imperative for local authorities to be capacitated to generate income and to be less dependent on government revenue support grant as that would be an important sign of self-sustenance.

He said it was evident that collection of revenue was a critical determinant of the financial viability of local authorities as fiscal transfers were not sustainable over time.

He said local authorities should be mindful of the obligation to earn own income, and that it had not been possible in many cases due to various factors such as poor income base and non-payment of services by residents.

Mr Autlwetse also pleaded with government to invest more on agriculture and to create an enabling environment for the sector to prosper.

Although commending government efforts to open the beef industry through the licensing of the exportation of live cattle, Mr Autlwetse beseeched government to regulate the exportation prices in order to guard against farmers exploitation and to protect farmers’ interests.

He added that exporting live cattle should be a temporary measure as the country lost out on the cattle value chain and that jobs were exported. ENDS