16 Nov 2023

Foreign companies failing to pay tax must be subjected to the law as they frustrate government efforts to grow the economy, says Francistown West Member of Parliament, Mr Ignatius Moswaane.

Responding to the State-of-the- Nation Address in Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Moswaane said it was unfortunate to observe that companies owned by foreign origin violated tax laws.

He said such companies continue to get a larger share of the development budget through construction and supply projects while equally competent local companies were sidelined.

He said companies trading in the retail and textile businesses were also said to be in violation of labour laws as they disregard the rights of their employees alongside paying them low wages.

Mr Moswaane decried that while Batswana were making efforts in different business sectors, it was a pity that low-quality garments sold by foreign-owned businesses dominate the country’s textile market.

He said in the past the textile industry was one the biggest employer of the vulnerable population as women and the youth, especially in Francistown and Selebi Phikwe funded through the Financial Assistance Policy (FAP).

MP Moswaane said what was worrying was that the majority of the population still lived in poverty and social ills while the youth were faced with challenges of unemployment even though they had political representation that did not prioritise improving livelihoods. Mr Moswaane was also concerned by the growing trade of habit-forming drugs. 

He said the unfortunate part was that master minds in the drug dealing business usually referred to as drug lords were unscathed, their business continued to grow and destroy the future of drug users who were mostly youth.

As was the case with other legal businesses that were not paying tax, Mr Moswaane indicated that drug lords were also untouchable as it appears that law enforcers only arrest those using drugs but hardly intercept the distribution network.

He said failure to arrest drug lords and bring down the illegal drug dealing business would impact negatively on the future of the country more so that the country does not have rehabilitation facilities.  Ends