30 Nov 2022

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and citizens empowerment are not mutually exclusive, but there is tension ensuing, said specially elected Member of Parliament, Dr Unity Dow.

Dr Dow, therefore urged government to strike a delicate balance betweenFDI and citizen economic empowerment.

She was making her contribution to the ongoing debate on the State-of-the-Nation Address.

She said Batswana were ambivalent about foreigners and saw them as taking jobs while at the same time government was calling them to set up and invest in Botswana.

As such she urged government to step in and whittle the right posture welcoming to foreigners.

Dr Dow said government, in awarding big tenders, must consider local contractors before engaging foreign ones. 

She said retail stores from outside should engage locals, especially in managerial positions.

Dr Dow said the constitution review was a long process which required intervention and guidance from the executive.

On the death penalty, Dr Dow said the judiciary had over the years talked about human rights, asking if it was now not time to consider balancing the two.

She said there should be clearer language and distinction between the vote of no confidence on the President and the vote of no confidence on government.

Dr Dow called for clarity on the relationships between the Directorate on Public Prosecutions and the Attorney Generals Chambers. 

She said term limits for the Office of the President were worth discussing as the current arrangement allowed for 10 years. 

She suggested that it could be linked to elections rather than the current system where the sitting vice president becomes the next president upon completion of the sitting president’s term.

She said in Botswana there was no legislation to regulate how power given to a sitting president would be exerted. 

She said the support that the agricultural sector was getting from government was commendable and should serve as an encouragement to farmers to increase their production. 

Dr Dow also applauded the Selebi Phikwe citrus project, saying it would not only position Botswana as a citrus supplier, but help in job creation.

On education, Dr Dow said equity and access in small communities were vital. 

She said even though some thought it was an expensive undertaking to establish schools in small communities, it should not be too expensive to educate the rural communities.

She said the education sector must take a leaf from the recent ban on the importation of products and stop what she termed illegal outflow of cash to South Africa by sending students there.

She asked government to revisit the dispensation that had bundled teachers with all other public servants. 

She said previously there was autonomy and teachers took pride in the results.

On road safety, Dr Dow pleaded with government to look at re-decongesting the A1 highway by availing other routes. Ends