02 Mar 2022

Government Reset Agenda should strive to grow economies at village and district level.

Member of Parliament for Goodhope/Mabule, Mr Eric Molale said this in his contribution to a debate on the Ministry for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration’s proposed budget estimates of over P2.5 billion for the 2022/2023 financial year on Tuesday.

Mr Molale pointed that  economies required to grow  , thus called on government to ensure that villages across the country had enough extension workers, such as agricultural field assistants, veterinary officers, social and community development officers, healthcare officers and teachers. 

“If we do not have enough extension workers in our villages, growth of local economies will not happen,” he said. 

He also asked for the review of extension boundaries since current ones were developed a long time back. 

“Our population has increased and villages have grown. 

We should make new extension boundaries to avoid overwhelming our extension workers,” he said. 

He said supervision should be improved to increase productivity in the public sector, adding that increased productivity would lead to growth of economies at village and district levels. 

Francistown South MP, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi, who was against the P2.5 billion budget allocation, said he was disturbed that the Office of President (OP) was given a significant increase of funds while more funds should be channelled to the agriculture ministry to rescue the poverty situation as well as other ministries that would revive the economy. 

Mr Mmolotsi further called for the removal of the Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) from OP. 

He said DISS should be returned to the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security. 

MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse urged government to enhance democracy and accountability in Botswana by strengthening oversight institutions. 

Mr Keorapetse also said the presidency ministry was too bloated, thus suggested that information, broadcasting, government printing and publishing departments, Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) and others be relocated to other ministries. 

He also said oversight institutions should be relocated from OP. 

Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane said the allocation was not enough looking at the duties performed by departments under presidential affairs ministry. 

He, however, supported the estimates because he understood that government was operating with a tight purse. 

“We cannot keep on complaining. 

We expect them to do more or better with less,” he said. 

Mr Tsogwane applauded the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAHPA) for a sterling job in the prevention of transmission of HIV from mother to child. 

Kgalagadi North MP, Ms Talita Monnakgotla supported the estimates. 

Ms Monnakgotla encouraged the minister to ensure availability of Radio Botswana frequency in Ukhwi, Zutshwa and Nxang villages in her constituency. 

She further said her constituency needed more disaster management funds because it was prone to natural disasters such as wild fires and storms. 

Jwaneng/Mabutsane MP, Mr Mephato Reatile asked the minister to put a close eye on corruption, which he said was rampant in the country. 

Meanwhile, the estimates received majority support from MPs who took the floor.

Presidential affairs, governance and public administration minister, Mr Kabo Morwaeng thanked MPs for supporting the estimates. 

He assured legislators that his ministry was doing its best to fight corruption. 

On the suggestion to remove DISS from OP, Mr Morwaeng said it was not peculiar to Botswana for state security agencies to be under OP. 

Regarding a concern that his ministry was allocated a significant increase in budget, he said that was done to cater for important projects such as the village connectivity through SmartBots project and revamping of Mass Media Complex to develop the creative industry. 

Notwithstanding, Parliament approved the ministry’s estimates comprising P1 578 505 130 recurrent expenditure and P997 215 109 development budget for the 2022/2023 financial year. ends