26 Feb 2014

Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi says the 2014/15 recurrent budget for Parliament has increased by 30.7 per cent due to terminal benefits payable to MPs, Members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi and constituency officers.

Presenting the proposals in Parliament on Tuesday, February 25, Mr Mokgweetsi asked Parliament for approval of P117 807 930 as recurrent budget for the 2014/15 financial year.

He said the National Assembly did not have development budget but a provision had been made in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology (MIST) for the refurbishment of parliamentary flats and Phase II of renovation of Old Parliament buildings.

Minister Masisi said the provision amounts to P35 960 000. He said Parliament passed several legislations during the last financial year amongst them One Stop Border Posts Bill, Banking (Amendment) Bill, Small Claims Courts (Amendment) Bill, Legal Aid Bill and National Development (Transition) Bill.

The minister further said various oversight activities were undertaken to improve accountability, transparency and promote participatory democracy.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) examined government accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2012 to ensure compliance with the Finance and Audit Act and other statutory instruments, Financial Instructions and Procedures, Supplies Regulations and Procedures and other applicable laws and regulations. Minister

Mr Masisi said the PAC observed some improvement in the level of compliance with regulations compared with previous years.

“Reasonable precautions had been taken to collect and safeguard collection and custody of public money and the laws, instructions and directions relating thereto had been duly observed,” he said.

The minister said disbursement of public monies in most instances had taken place under proper authority and for purposes intended for such authority. He said precautions had also been taken to safeguard the receipt, custody, issue and proper use of public stores and instructions and directions relating thereto had been duly observed.

“Adequate instructions or directions existed for the guidance of officers responsible for the collection, custody, issue and disbursement of public stores,” he said.

Minister Masisi said the Parliamentary Special Select Committee of Inquiry into the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) and Decline of Beef Industry also tabled their report in November 2013 and the report should be discussed and adopted by Parliament during its July meeting.

The Finance and Estimates Committee scrutinised the 2014/15 Expenditure Estimates and has produced and presented an informative report to Parliament with recommendations to be considered. Minister Masisi said the report had been helpful in shaping debates on the budget and keeping them focused.

He said Portfolio Committees also conducted tours to address topical issues in the public domain adding impetus to the government’s undertaking of taking Parliament to the people.

The Minister said the pilot phase of ‘Botswana Speaks Project’ was on-going and is expected to be concluded by the end of next month. This is a collaborative effort between the government, Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), University of Stockholm, Swedish Trade Council and Gov2u, a Swedish non-profit organization, he added.

He said the primary objective of the project is to open up lines of communication between MPs and their electorate adding if the pilot proves successful, the project would be rolled out to other constituencies in phases.

Talking about independence of Parliament, he said three bills; Parliamentary Services Bill 2013, Constitution (Amendment) Bill and Parliamentary Remuneration and Benefits Commission Bill are under consideration. During the 2013/14 financial year, the National Assembly was not allocated any funds under the development budget.

However, the minister said a provision of P20 040 000 was made in the MIST maintenance budget for refurbishment of Old Parliamentary Flats and Phase II renovation of Old Parliament buildings.

He said the tender for the remaining 25 flats is awaiting adjudication by the Ministerial Tender Committee and renovation of Old Parliament Buildings is expected to commence during the course of 2014/15. ENDS