17 Nov 2013

The Report of the Parliamentary Special Select Committee of Enquiry into the Botswana Meat Commission has come up with several recommendations that might end up putting ceratin people and institutions at the deep-end.

In its recommendations, the committee tasked the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) with five assignments following its findings pertaining to the national abattoir.

It recommended that the anti-corruption unit should undertake investigations into the award of a marketing contract by the Botswana Meat Commission in favour of Global Protein Solutions. The report stated that a consideration be made for a review and renegotiations of the contract terms to ensure a residual control of the beef export marketing by the Botswana Meat Commission.

The committee also charged DCEC to investigate circumstances pertaining to the contracts for the provision of expert financial consultancy services by Mr Siva Prasad to establish whether the contract execution was tainted by any violations of the law.

This recommendation followed evidence produced during the committee’s siting that Prasad was being paid travelling time of two hours from Gaborone to Lobatse and back when such charges were not included in the contract agreement.

He was also being paid P8.50 as mileage charges for travelling from Gaborone to Lobatse and back. Records also indicated that Mr Prasad received more than P106 million from the BMC through the electronic transfer for the short period he stayed with the abattoir.

He was also paid over P174 000 as consultancy allowance. It said the DCEC should also investigate the awarding of contracts for the Reticulum Bolus by the Department of Veterinary Services over the last decade and further conduct investigations into the BMC’s various land transactions in Lobatse and Francistown.

DCEC should also investigate the lawfulness of substantial allowances paid to BMC board members in respect of board meetings held outside Botswana in the Camen Island and ancillary allowances paid to them between 2006 and 2012.

In her evidence during the hearing, the former board chairperson, Mmapula Modise testified that the costs for travelling to the Camen Islands were not reasonable, citing that on allowances, they were paid 300 pounds as sitting allowance and 135 pounds as daily allowances. In addition, Board members who were civil servants were paid per diem during the 12 days they will spend in the Camen Island.

On the other hand, the committee, chaired by Ngwaketse West Member of Parliament, Mr Mephato Reatile, found that the commission’s financing of the feed lots, under the Direct Purchase Scheme , imposed nan undue strain on the cash flow of the commission and its financing management and recommended that alternative mechanisms for funding of feed lots should be considered and that a comprehensive reform of the cattle transportation system be introduced to ensure greater access by smaller producers to the BMC.

It also discovered that feed lot activities be undertaken by the Batswana private sector and not by the BMC because the national abattoir does not have the capacity to fulfill its core mandate of slaughtering cattle and selling beef.

The committee also recommended that the Department of Veterinary Services be transformed into a statutory and independent regulator autonomous from the Ministry of Agriculture and to also enhance its operational capacity. It says given the EU policy, the new authority should operate on a partial cost recovery basis but with support for low income farmers.

The committee also recommended that a reform of the national animal disease control infrastructure be made, including the establishment of the quarantines country wide as part of an animal disease control and monitoring regime to be agreed upon with the EU It also state that the Minister of Agriculture had failed to execute and implement effective animal disease control monitoring, by the poor resourcing of the Department of Veterinary Services with evident gaps identified by the World Organisation for Animal Health report of 2011.

It said greater promotion by government of the communal zones cattle producers be undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture, in view of the sector’s continued high contribution of about 80 percent to the national abattoir slaughter. ENDS