28 Nov 2013

Batswana ought to spend their energies fruitfully in helping developments in their country, foreign affairs and international cooperation minister, Mr Phandu Skelemani has said.

“While we are entitled to be critical about what we are doing in the country, I think we ought to spend a little bit of time selling this country to the outside world and asking for investments, because this republic is about developments,” he said.

Responding to President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s State-of-the-Nation Address in Parliament, Mr Skelemani, said in paragraph 33 of the speech it was stated quite clearly that “we are an attractive country for investment and that is what we should be spending our energies doing- selling this country, because we need people to come and invest.”

The question that probably people could ask, he said, was whether government had put in place anything that would enable Batswana to join in the development of their country “and to that question I say yes.”

To enable Batswana to take part in the development of their country, he said there was CEDA and LEA which participated in the financing and training of Batswana entrepreneurs who were expected to also partake in the development of the country.

We have started the diamond beneficiation. Admittedly it had been a long journey, but we are not there yet. But there is no doubt that we are on the right road. We need to tell more Batswana to join in the beneficiation. We also have the local procurement scheme, which allows for preferential treatment of projects by women, the youth and the disabled.

In addition, Mr Skelemani said there was also the Youth Development Fund, which finances, properly assessed projects by young entrepreneurs up to 50 per cent being a grant and 50 per cent being a loan, the Youth Empowerment Scheme, which was meant to inculcate life skills, capacity on the job training and the National Internship Programme which was mainly for skills transfer.

“Of course to me the greatest enabler to allow any citizen to join in the development of the country is education. It is that part where we as parents ought to play to ensure that the children take advantage of this great enabler.

And if parents don’t participate and ensure that they play their part and children go to school then we are doing a disservice. We are not helping government to help Batswana to take part in the development of this country,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Skelemani said just like development, good governance was not static. He said it had to be nurtured, as it was predicated on a number of things, “it is not an event and you must have in place a number of institutions which will ensure that it exists.”

Development, he said, was meant to lead to the eradication of poverty. But said poverty could not be eliminated in one day, in a month or in some case not even a generation.

"That is how long it takes to deal with poverty. It takes time, it requires management and it requires men and women who are going to be able to say, more especially in a country like ours, that when it come to the development of schools, roads, clinics there are certain areas in this country which deserves, at every given moment, to be given priority," he said.

“You cannot go to the Northwest and come back and argue that sufficient has been done there. It can’t be. That area needs greater attention. We need to connect the Eastern part of this country with the Western part. Ngamiland needs more roads connect those villages," he said.

"We don’t have a railway that sides and so we need more roads to allow our own children there to be able move and enjoy what their compatriots in other parts of the country are enjoying. That is the developments that MPs ought to be saying, without being ashamed without saying you have enough. I do not have enough in Francistown East, but I recognise that we need more of these facilities in other parts,” he said.

Development, he said was meant to lead to the eradication of poverty. However, he said poverty could not be eliminated in one day, in a month and not even in a generation. That, he said was how long it took to deal with poverty.

“It take time, it requires management and it requires men and women who are going to be able to say, more especially in a country like ours, that when it come to the development of schools, roads, clinics there are certain areas in this country which deserves, at every given moment, to be given priority,” he said.

“You cannot go to the North West and come back and argue that sufficient has been done there. It can’t be. That area needs greater attention. We need to connect the Eastern part of this country with the Western part. Ngamiland needs more roads to connect those villages. I do not have enough in Francistown East, but I recognise that we need more of these facilities in other parts,” he added.

Meanwhile, Presidential Affairs and Public Administration minister, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi, had tabled, before parliament, a Statutory Instrument No. 112 of 2013: Adjournment of taking of poll for the Francistown West Constituency By-Election, in accordance with Statutory Instrument CAP: 01:05 Clause 91. ENDS