Etaveree Saleshando or Dumelang Saleshando! RESPONSE TO THE STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS NOVEMBER 2013 Dumelang Saleshando: BCP President and Gaborone Central MP INTRODUCTION 1. Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to once more respond, on behalf of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and the constituents of Gaborone Central to the address by his Excellency the President on the State of the Nation. As with the address of 2012, the President seeks to paint an overly positive picture of the state of our nation. Though it is the last address by his Excellency to the 10th Parliament, no attempt was made to account for the numerous promises that were made in previous addresses. Batswana are increasingly losing interest in the state of the nation address, partly because of the unfulfilled promises made by the highest office, which are abandoned without giving any explanations. While subsequent addresses highlight the problems that were meant to be addressed by the abandoned promises, no new strategies are presented to address the challenges.The following are examples; 1.1 At paragraph 49 of his address, the President mentions the nationwide crop failure and poor grazing due to inadequate rainfall that have set the farmers back. The President seems to have forgotten about the Agricultural Insurance Scheme that he pledged to introduce in 2008 to protect farmers against risks caused by climatic variability. 1.2 At paragraphs 77 and 78 His Excellency refers to our good performance in combating corruption. The recently released report on the BDC that detailed acts of corruption at the highest decision making levels in government are ignored by the President. In the case of BDC, the employee who sought to expose the corrupt activities lost her job and remains without compensation let alone recognition for her efforts. The Whistle Blowing Legislation that the President promised in the 2011 State of the Nation Address is no longer priority for the government and those who seek to expose corruption should know that they do so at their own risk. 1.3 At paragraph 129 the President announces that BHC has completed 402 houses, which we all know if far short of meeting the demand for housing by Batswana in urban and peri-urban areas. No mention is made of the tenant purchase scheme or the fund that the President previously promised to set up to facilitate the financing of home loans. 1.4 At paragraph 190 the President mentions the impressive performance of the Botswana athletes and that this year 6 Batswana football players joined the professional ranks. The President makes no mention of his 2008 promise in the state of the nation address when he stated that there will be appearance fees for national team games and monthly allowances for local athletes in the Premier League, First Division (North and South). It should not come as a surprise that most of the respondents to a snap survey carried out by the Midweek Sun were highly pessimistic of the speech, with one respondent labelling it an old tired song. 2. The address follows the monotonous precedent of the ones that came before it. The address misses what the BCP and the nation considers as key challenges facing our nation and as such fails to come up with innovative solutions to our problems. This government has a formidable record of lofty promises that have never been fulfilled. It is for this reason that, the BCP has decided to make a proper diagnosis of the challenges facing this nation and providing solutions to them. CORRUPTION 3. Madam Speaker, we are extremely saddened by the institutionalization of corruption by the ruling class in our country.We will all recall that sometime early this year, the Secretary General of the ruling BDP made a startling remark that, the opposition should learn to accept and live with the fact that, the BDP is the ruling party with a full mandate from Batswana and more significantly but sadly, that as the ruling party‘it is our time to eat!.’ This is a disturbing statement coming from somebody in the high echelons of power in the ruling BDP. Notably, the BDP and its leader have never disassociated themselves from the Secretary General’s statement. No action has been taken against the Secretary General by his party. In the circumstances, we can safely conclude as we hereby do, that the position of the BDP is that, they have been elected into power to eat and the opposition do not have the right to complain when the BDP is ‘eating’ public funds. It is your time to eat. We view this statement by the BDP as a clear and unequivocal admission that, the BDP led government endorses and has in fact institutionalised corruption. 4. We have always believed that when we take active participation in politics, we do so with the burning desire to serve our beloved country. The BCP believes that, it participates in the politics of this country because it believes it can rule it better for the benefit of all Batswana. We believe that when Batswana mandate anyone to lead them, they are entrusting that party with the responsibility to run the economy of the country for and on their behalf and for the interest of all Batswana. The BCP is certain that Batswana have not mandated the BDP to milk this country dry through corruption as suggested by its Secretary General. The BDP’s conduct in this regard constitutes a serious breach of trust and acting beyond the authority given to them by the people. We wish to warn this regime that there will be consequences for the path they have chattered- that of ‘eating’ public funds with impunity and deep seated arrogance. 5. The revelation by the Secretary General is consistent with the conduct of the BDP for the last 47 years. They have consistently sabotaged and used their majority in parliament to frustrate all attempts to enact any law which is intended to fight corruption for instance; 5.1 They have sabotaged and defeated a motion calling for declaration of assets by those who hold power. They have also defeated without good cause, a proposal for a private members bill by the BCP on the law on declaration of assets. 5.2 They have ignored calls for the enactment of a law on insider trading and abuse of information held by those in powerful positions. 5.3 They have defeated a law on freedom of information for no good cause. 5.4 They have consistently frustrated and rejected calls by the opposition for political party funding by the state. The leadership of the DCEC has in the past publicly stated the need for public funding of political parties as a way of reducing the incidence of corruption amongst the political leadership 5.5 This government has always opposed all attempts to have a more independent DCEC who are adequately and sufficiently equipped to deal with the rising incidents of corruption 6. Madam Speaker, all the above laws are geared towards enhancing our capacity to combat corruption. This therefore means that the BDP is not genuinely against corruption and is not committed to eradicating it. This attitude is in line with the BDP position that, it is their time to eat. They do not want any law that will interfere with their ‘eating of public funds’. Under President Khama, individuals accused of corruption are worthy of cabinet positions. 7. It also not surprising that, media reports have it that, we have our very own Khama-gate scandal unfolding right before our eyes. It’s their time to eat, which is why there are serious issues surrounding the building of the president’s villa at Mosu. It’s their time to eat, that’s why they are using state resources to construct an air field at the door steps of the president’s private residence at Mosu for use by the president. If we are to agree that the airfield will be open to the public, what public facility is there which is intended to be serviced by the air field except only for the private use of the president at his private residence. If indeed the airfield was meant to be a public facility, why then was the land allegedly applied for and obtained by the president in his personal capacity. 8. Madam Speaker, the BCP takes the corruption allegations made against the president surrounding the construction of his private residence and the accompanying air field very seriously. We will in due course be approaching the relevant authorities to demand a full and credible investigation of this matter and if anybody is found to be implicated, he must be held to account. The prevarication by Dr Jeff Ramsay on the matter makes the government position difficult to follow let alone agree with. The nation requires to be informed of the total costs of the project, the government expenditure on same, the manner of procurement of the all material used for the project, the personnel and indeed the contractors involved in the project. Eye witnesses interviewed in the village of Mosu confirmed that government vehicles and personnel were involved in the construction of the Presidential compound. WasPPADB involved in the procurement process and if not why? All these issues can be properly ventilated through a credible investigation and we so demand. 9. Some of the honourable ministers will bear me out that recently during the Khawa event a minister chartered a plane from Gaborone to attend the event.This, we are informed, was done without following the necessary PPADB procurement processes. This is a matter that we also plan to report for investigation and hope the relevant minister will be made to fully account. 10. Madam speaker, you may be aware that government is currently in the process of procuring some land in Namibia as storage facilities for imported petroleum products. Once again madam speaker some “cats-pours’ of some ministers and ambassadors are visible in the transaction. The BCP has engaged a team to investigate the matter and I can confidently tell you that all is not well in the entire transaction. We say all these madam speaker in order to demonstrate that BDP has no potential and/or capacity to root out corruption.BDP goes to bed with corruption. 9. We sadly agree that, it is indeed their time to ‘eat’, that’s why they brought BMC to its knees, BDC close to bankruptcy, and Morupule power project into a total mess. This is why we do not have water in the southern part of the country because they ate our money and supplied substandard pipes to the North South carrier water project which keeps failing. They are busy eating while all our key sectors are falling apart from health, education, water, power, and many others. The BCP want to make it clear, that you must eat very fast because your end is approaching very fast and everyone implicated will be held to account, and you will account and in your absence your estates will account. ECONOMY (JOB CREATION AND EXPORTATION OF JOBS BY GOVERNMENT) 10. Botswana celebrated its 47th independence anniversary about a month ago.Most of the 47 years of our independence have been characterised by high rates of economic growth. This so-called economic miracle has not transformed the lives of the ordinary Batswana who continue to be passive onlookers in the sharing of the wealth created by theirforefather as well as themselves. The beneficiaries of this wealth have over the years been those in power, their relatives, their local cronies and international collaborators. Time has come for us to ask government to account for its political and economic mismanagement of our affairs. Why has the wealth of the country fallen in the hands of a minority who are excessively wealthy while the majority remain classified as the low income group? Why should the majority of the citizens only have public facilities to show as their share of our national wealth? Given that we are a middle income country, why should the majority of the working class in our country be of low income status and not middle class? 11. Madam Speaker, the major contributors of this wealth has been mineral revenues and lately tourism which are both in the hands of foreign interests while our own people continue to be passive participants. Many other sectors like finance, manufacturing as well as trade are dominated by foreigners. Mineral products such as copper, nickel, gold and by- products of beef industry are exported in raw form as government has not seen it imperative to create processing plants that would bring millions of dollars in export revenue in addition to job creation. Technological transfer cannot be attained when local products are shipped in raw state. 12. The current citizen empowerment policy is a toothless instrument as it does not compel anybody to implement it. As we all know a policy has no force of law. A law of citizen empowerment is an urgent imperative. We demand that relevant laws be enacted to ensure that citizens are brought on board and those who disregard this national calling should not do business with government. Serious economic empowerment and beneficiation of local raw material has remained a pipedream under the BDP government. Countless job opportunities were transferred to Europe and Asia including South Africa as a consequence of export of unprocessed diamond, soda ash, copper and nickel as well as hides and skins from cattle. Madam Speaker, we call for the establishmentof industries that use local raw material and provide export incentive for the export of finished products. In paragraph 38 to 40 of his speech the President makes reference to the success story of tender sales for diamonds. The one thing the president fails to say is how many of our indigenous people participated as part of the 76 companies from the world’s major diamond centres and the percentage of their participation. We remain convinced that there is need for the introduction of a law on citizen economic empowerment to give effect to the policy. 13. The House will recall, Madam speaker that in 1966, Botswana was one of the poorest ten in the world, but today it is regarded as a middle income country whose per capita income is about P16 000. The wealth that is being generated has not touched the lives of the majority of our citizens in a positive way as theystill depend on handouts in the form of blankets, foodstuffs and clothing. Batswana are a proud people who preferred to provide for themselves through their sweat. Handouts diminishes one’s self esteem and deals a devastating blow to their dignity. Income distribution in this country is one of the most skewed in the world as wealth is concentrated in the hands of the few. Eighty percent of the nation’s wealth is in the hands of hardly 10 percent of the population with over 40 % with virtually nothing of economic value. The honourable house will note that the June 2011 government statistics revealed that Batswana employed in various sectors of the economy were paid a fraction of what their foreign counterparts got as monthly salaries. In the agricultural sector citizen male workers in the formal sector received an average of P1037.00 per month while foreigners in the same were paid P4 207. This represents 315% more than the local workers. In the mining sector that has been responsible for the economic growth over years, citizens were being paid an average of P10 772.00 per month while their foreign counterparts earn an average of P40 048 per month. As if this disparity was not too much, government that is accountable to the voters of this nation pays citizen civil servants an average of P6 059 per month while expatriates earn twice as much P12 004 per month. No doubt our economy works for foreign capital owners and fellow travellers. 14. Employment statistics indicate that the influx of foreign workers in this country in the construction and wholesale/retail subsectors in the last four years has increased significantly as more Asian people particularly Chinese come to our shores. In the retail industry, quality and standard of consumer goods have been greatly compromisedas goods worth millions of counterfeit products are confiscated on regular basis by the police from time to time. Local village traders have closed shop on the face of this invasion by foreign traders who sell cheap and mostly counterfeit goods. Local traders in most of the major centres have been displaced as there is no protection from government. We have a government that cares less about its people. Our leaders derive solace in parading the poor on a television and giving them food and blankets. 15. In the construction industry many public projects of major importance to the economy have experienced cost and time overruns that far exceed acceptable deviations. The Chinese have been involved in all major construction works such asdams, roads, airports and stadia but none was completed within stipulated time or budgeted funds. Most if not all are uncompleted three to four years after their original agreed period. Madam Speaker, it is shocking that in spite of all these, no single person has been held to account. Stadia in Francistown and Gaborone although were expected to be completed long before the June 2010 world cup, are today not 100% complete and usable with the Francistown stadium still to be open to the public. The airports also in the same cities to this day, we have no idea when they will be completed after billions of pula in cost overruns was spent.Morupule power project, where close to P13 billion has been spent, seems to be prone to frequent technical failures, hence continuous power outages since last year. In 2009 it was expected that by 2012 the country will be a net exporter of power. Unfortunately today we are experiencing power cuts never experienced in 47 years. 16. There are more Batswana seeking to enter the job market more than ever before, yet the economy has no ability to generate enough jobs to absorb a fraction of those actively looking for jobs. Noting the swelling ranks of the unemployed youth, the only thing that the head of state could do was to advise graduates from various institutions to join the Ipelegengprogramme.The president seems not to appreciate that when we improve the quality of life of our people, not through Ipelegeng,we are also laying a basis for a future of hope for our children and grandchildren. The BDP government ought to know that if there is a problem of unemployment it is the youth who suffer most as is the case now, if there are high incidences of crime, it is the youth who are misused as foot-soldiers and consumers of illegal substances. We expect the president in times like this to come up with initiatives that would have direct impact in absorbing many of the youth that roam our streets with any gainful employment that is sustainable. This clearly indicates that although the official unemployment rate is about 20%, there is more hidden unemployment that could be running between 40 and 50%. Less than20 % of school leavers (secondary, tertiary and technical school) find jobs in their first nine months of searching.TireloSechaba, in whatever form, cannot be an answer to the problem of youth unemployment. 17. Foreign direct investment (FDI) which is a necessary ingredient for economic growth and sustainable development is below expected level. The high level of deportation of investors who have lived here for many years has had serious adverse effects on many potential investors who are worried by the current practice that seems to be a norm. There are many people who have lived here for 10 to 20 years running their businesses who have been declared prohibited immigrants. Botswana needs to seriously re-visit this area of concern. The perception of Botswana in the eyes of many countries is negative and this does not augur well for our efforts to attract FDI. The president could not in his address even state how many investors we have attracted as a county since his last address. The statistics are embarrassing. 18. The Minister of Agriculture has completely abdicated his responsibilityto safeguard the interests of farmers and the sector itself. The BMC which offered the farmers a reliable marketing collapsed under the ministers’ watch and appears to care less about the organization’s future save to concentrate on his lions whose acquisition remains suspect. There is no concerted effort by government to deal with the Foot and Mouth Disease on a permanent basis given that the country produces vaccine for the disease. Government is not doing much to look for alternative markets for our beef. It has taken government too long tore-stock areas which were affected by FMD two years ago. Boarder fences along the north eastern part remained poorly maintained and continue to pose a threat of the disease re-emerging shortly after the restocking exercise. 19. Arable farming too does not get the necessary attention from the ministry. The yearly output does not seem to match the input provided by government by way of subsidies. This means that government has to consider providing more subsidies on output than inputs as an incentive to producers. In terms of the prevailing arrangement government is funding‘seed buriers’. There are no cash incentives for arable farmers for their produce. The BCP advocates for guaranteed market for arable farmers and cash incentives for their products. Subsidies should go to the buying prices as they do it in the USA and Brazil. 20. The Deteriorating Standards of Education In my response to the State of the Nation address last year, I pointed out to the crisis in our education system as epitomised by the drop in the quality of the results attained. At the time, there was only 1 senior secondary school with a pass rate of over 50%. At the time, the leader of the house said the crisis only existed in our minds and that all is well with our education system. This year, not a single school could attain a pass rate of over 50%, meaning that the boat is sinking deeper and the denial by the leadership possibly getting stronger. Most of the leading private schools are able to post 100% pass rates as the public schools performance deteriorates. 21. As more parents flee to private schools in a desperate attempt to secure their children’s future, the demand for private education is on the rise, resulting in the fees charged by the private schools increasing beyond reach for most young professionals who are finding it difficult to make ends meet. Young parents who dedicate their meagre resources to educating their children deserve to get government support. We will in due course present proposals to this house to consider making education expenses tax deductible. 22. We welcome the decision by government to roll 1 year reception classes in selected schools. There is need to introduce properly conceives pre-primary education for all children before they enrol for standard 1. The 1 year program is still a far cry when compared to what is offered by private institutions. 23. Government must come to the realisation that the 8 hour working day model is not appropriate for the teaching service. There is a need to engage the teacher trade unions over this matter and pursue a model that best accommodates the peculiarities of the teaching profession. 24. The Ministry of Education leadership has surprisingly engaged in a unending war with Student Representative Councils in tertiary institutions. While SRC’s used to be a cherished opportunity for students to refine their leadership skills, they have now become the fastest route for one to lose their tertiary sponsorship. We wish to call upon the Ministry to reconsider its approach in dealing with student leaders. . CRISIS IN KEY SECTORS OF GOVERNMENT (WATER, POWER, HEALTH, BMC, BDC AND LABOUR RELATIONS 25. Madam Speaker, the crisis across all key sectors of our economy from water,energy, health, education, BMC,BDC,the glass projectand toxic labour relations between government and public services employees can be attributed to one root cause, a catastrophic failure of political leadership. 26. The war that President Khama has declared on trade unions and its members is the reason why we have poisoned labour relations between the two camps. This has had devastating consequences on productivity and the collapse of our health and education sector. President Khama should shed his military uniform and tactics and approach labour issues with a sober mind. His reminder to the workers that he is a soldier and shall fight them to a bitter end was most unfortunate and not worthy of the office he holds. This is the main reason for the endless feuding between government and the unions. There is need for government to return to the bargaining council and engage the workers in a constructive manner. 27. We note at paragraph 23 of the address by the President that there has been a consultancy on ways to improve conditions of service for the public service. If this consultancy was not sanctioned by the bargaining council, our view is that the findings or recommendations of the consultancy should be tabled before the bargaining council for adoption. Any changes to the conditions of service that are not a product of bargaining with the unions will further result in unnecessary tension. 28. There is need to review the factors that influence the minimum wage that a worker should get in any given sector. The current reality is that a number of Batswana on the minimum wage are unable to meet the costs of basic amenities. We need to introduce a living wage that is aligned with the cost of living. A motion to this effect will be sponsored from our side of the house during the current session of Parliament. It is not acceptable that companies that operate in Botswana and in some of our neighbouring countries pay higher wages in some countries than they do in Botswana and yet they make some of the highest profits in Botswana. 29. Madam Speaker, we hold the BDP government accountable for the collapse of BMC, BDC and all the above sectors because of her failure to act in the interest of Batswana by providing leadership.Quite clearly, we are in this crisis on account of the fact that the BDP lead government lacked foresight coupled with institutionalized corruption (‘eating as the BDP Secretary General puts it.) 30. That the southern part of this country is not endowed with perennial rivers and that ours is a semi- arid environment are facts known to all of us including the BDP leadership from time immemorial. That the majority of Batswana are populated in the eastern strip of this country along the railway line is a fact known to us from way back. It is equally a notorious fact that the northern part of this country is blessed with many perennial rivers and conducive for building dams. Why did it take the BDP government so long to make adequate water infrastructure to convey water from the north to the south? Why did it take forever for the BDP government to realise that recycling of water is a must to complement our strained water supplies? Why did it take so long for the BDP government to realise that it was necessary to make an elaborate plan to integrate our underground water reserves into our mainstream water supply? This is simply because there is no foresight and strategic planning and thinking on the part of government. 31. That we were given a dose of how it feels like to be in a failed and war tone state by the power outages also speaks to lack of leadership and foresight on the part of the BDP. How on earth can a country so blessed with a huge coal reserve fail to be self -sufficient in terms of energy defies logic. If this country was properly managed, we would be powering the whole sub region. LAND AND HOUSING 32. In the last State of the Nation address of November 2012, we raised concerns pertaining to the backlog of land allocation in the urban and peri-urban areas particularly with regard to SHHA where the waiting list stood at 11368 in Gaborone and allocation had been last done in 2009. We had expected the President to appraise the nation on the measures that his government has taken to address the land allocation backlog. 33. We also pointed out to government that while many Batswana toil in landlessness, there continue to be huge tracts of land owned by absentee landlords that lay idle and not used for any productive purposes. While government is flagging the Draft Land Policy as the panacea for addressing land challenges in this country, we are yet to see how it deals with this thorny issue. Any failure by the envisaged Land Policy to comprehensively deal with this issue will be unacceptable and unpardonable. Gaborone and Francistown have huge tracts of undeveloped plots held by absentee landlords and yet there is a serious shortage of land in the 2 cities. 34. Attention was also drawn to government on the unfairness of compensation prices of land held under the different tenure systems in cases of compulsory acquisition for public purpose, with holders of Certificate of Customary Land Grant often compensated very lowly. Parliament needed to haven been appraised on the progress government has made in reviewing the prices for compulsory land expropriation since we put it before this House in November 2012.The address proceeded as if these concerns do not exist and the draft policy does not address the issue. 35. In responding to the State of the Nation address in November 2012, we drew to the attention of government the artificial shortage of servicedland as result of failure by government to avail sufficient land. This artificial shortage of land has resulted in distorted land and housing prices, with relatively higher prices for land, housing and exorbitant rentals that are out of reach for the youth, first time home buyers and the middle class. Exorbitant rentals resulting from the artificial shortage of land that government has no interest in resolving is a major stumbling block to government programmes intended to assist wholly citizen-owned small, micro, medium enterprise businesses. High rentals of business premises arising from this situation adversely affect the uptake and sustainability of SMME businesses, as well as the competitiveness of locally produced goods and services, which in turn stifles the growth of businesses in Botswana. 36. It is quite paradoxical that the same government that, on one hand, continues to encourage Batswana to fight poverty and create employment by starting businesses is, on the other hand, contributing to exorbitant rentals by steadfastly perpetuating artificial shortage of land. This situation puts in serious doubt the commitment of this government in assisting Batswana most of whom face worsening unemployment and resultantly wallow in poverty. 37. We note with concern that, as government drags its feet in addressing the real causes of poverty such as lack of access to land to enable Batswana to use it to earn a living and diversify their livelihood strategies, it continues to pre-occupy itself with focusing on the President’s pet projects such as Ipelegeng and backyard gardening. If government continues with these pet projects, poverty eradication will remain a mirage. To mitigate the adverse impacts of poverty, many Batswana will continue selling their land, particularly in the peri-urban areas to raise income. This will inevitably result in landlessness among the poor and dispossession by foreigners and Batswana who have the economic might. 38. We note with concern that the BHC continues to build houses for sale that are beyond the reach of many Batswana. This is anomalous. In our view, a publicly funded housing corporation such as BHC should mainly be targeting providing affordable housing for low and middle income earners. Given the abundant prevalence of building technology, there is no plausible reason why BHC should not be doing this. 39. We state that in order for government to address the artificial scarcity of service land it has created, it should proactively embark on robust programmes of availing serviced land to Batswana, particularly though acquisition of tribal and freehold land around urban areas, as has been done before by BHC acquiring land in Tlokweng, Bokaa, Serowe, Palapye, Maun and Mahalapye. The envisaged land servicing programme will benefit first home seekers, especially the youth and the low and medium income earners, who are currently excluded from the housing market. Our view is that, to identify the extent of land required for the programme and establish the target beneficiaries, there should be a comprehensive land audit. We will be presenting a petition to Parliament on the need for a comprehensive land audit. 40. Furthermore, Madam Speaker, we continue to note with embarrassment, the continuation of the Presidential Housing Appeal. We are particularly concerned that, as one commentator recently put it, the President has usurped NGOs responsibility. There is also the possibly of mortgaging the country to the donors, especially foreigners, of the Presidential Housing Appeal. Human nature being what it is, we wonder, what is in it for donors? We hope that as the world turns, the President won’t find himself facing a situation of demand for favours in return for these housing donations, as was the case when a certain Motswana demanded that former President Mogae protect him from prosecution because he had previously helped the BDP to raise funds for paying the debts of some BDP leaders. In our view, the President should concentrate his efforts in driving a robust national housing policy and strategy for the poor, rather than a piece-meal approach that gives him individual credit. RULE OF LAW AND HUMAN RIGHTS 41. Madam Speaker, Botswana is in the news again in the international community for the wrong reasons. It continues on its agenda to persecute Basarwa communities of Ranyane by driving them out of their ancestral land. The BDP led government is employing its trade mark scotch earth tactics to starve the Basarwa in Ranyane of all basic necessities of life such as water, health services and other essential amenities in order to force them out of their ancestral land to the land of the government’s own choosing. The same tactic was employed by the government to force the Basarwa out out the CKGR a few years ago. The BCP condemns this inhumane and cruel treatment of Basarwa by their government. 42. It appears that despite consistently losing legal battles against Basarwa in Courts of law, this government is so determined to evict Basarwa from their ancestral land by any means necessary. This time around the government was so vicious and cruel in its fight against Basarwa that it manipulated its immigration laws to strike a devastating blow to the Basarwa by preventing their counsel, Mr Gordon Bennet from representing them in court through unreasonable and unjustified visa requirements. Fair trial gives Basarwa a right to appear by counsel of their choice at their own expense and they had exercised that right to choose Mr Gordon Bennet as their preferred lawyer. The decision by government to prevent Mr Bennet to represent his clients was taken in bad faith and with the sole aim of disabling Basarwa in their legal tussle with government. To use immigration laws to hamstrung Basarwa in their legal battles with government smacks of sheer ruthlessness and amounts to a government bullying its people. It is clear from the determination of this government that, it intends to completely destroy their way of life (culture) and forcefully assimilate them into mainstream Tswana society. This reminds us of the dark ages of colonialism when some colonial powers employed a policy of assimilados specifically to try and eliminate the black race whom the considered to be of inferior stock. The BCP believes that Basarwa are not inferior but have a different way of life. They have the right to practice their way of life and preserve their heritage. We are now witnessing a repeat of the policy of assimilados by the BDP government in modern times. 43. The BCP appeals to President Khama to borrow a leaf from the Australian Prime Minister, who acknowledged the inhuman and degrading treatment by government on the aborigines and apologised to them. Not only should President Khama apologise but he must compensate Basarwa for the untold hardships and miseries that they have had to endure at the hands of successive BDP governments. We appeal to President Khama’s conscience that Basarwa are people too and deserve to be treated like fellow human beings. All they want is to live their own lives in the way they know best without government interfering with their way of life and attempting to assimilate them into foreign cultures. This is cultural genocide. PUBLIC MEDIA 44. Madam Speaker, for the past five years we have witnessed an unprecedented abuse of the public media by the BDP government which has turned the Mass Media Complex into a BDPpropaganda machine.In fact, the Deputy Permanent Secretary responsible for that department stated over Btv that there is no difference between the Government and the BDP when it comes to coverage by the public media. This statement was never refuted by his seniors because he was stating the obvious. 45. This attitude has reduced Botswana Television, Daily News and Radio Botswana into publicity organs of the BDP under the guise that they are promoting government programmes and policies when in the actual fact the hidden strategy is to promote BDP leadership and political elites. 46. Madam Speaker, the main news makers for the public media under the BDP government are: Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, His Excellency the President, His Honour the Vice President and Cabinet Ministers in that order. Every day news bulletins must say something about these leaders.The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration takes advantage of his control of the public media and ensures that every activity that he engages in Btv, Radio Botswana and Daily News run after him. The nation is getting an overdose of Minister Masisi as projected by the public media organs. 47. The public medianews bulletins are, therefore,nothing but a roll call of Cabinet Ministers led by His Excellency the President. The standard of Botswana Television deteriorated to the level of His Master’s Voice or should I say His Master’s Mirror. The Daily News has been reduced to a photo album of ministers, while Radio Botswana sings praises for BDP leaders daily. 48. Madam Speaker, the current stringent control of Btv, Radio Botswana and the Daily News by the BDP does not bode well for the growth of our fledgling democracy because it stifles other voices projecting only the voice of those in power. Is this what the President considers a vibrant democracy? 49. Having recognised the public media as the most powerful and influential form of political communication, the BDP government has tightened levers of control and exert brutal political pressure where journalists who show any sign of professionalism are shipped out to other government departments to take up jobs not relevant to their qualifications. 50. This deployment gives way to BDP activists to dominate public media newsrooms. And is not only that;but the public media newsrooms are also infiltrated by state security agents (spies) who keep a watchful eye on reporters and broadcasters. As a result, it is no longer safe for these professionals to discuss and debate issues freely. 51. This has reduced the otherwise talented professionals into zombies controlled by strategically-placed party activists. There is daily intimidation at the Mass Media Complex and outright censorship of news and programmes. There are stories of senior editors standing behind their subordinates to direct how they should write their stories. 52. Madam Speaker, there is no doubt that Btv, Radio Botswana and Daily News are the most effective channels of political communication in this country because they are national. Their messages are enjoyed by the vast majority of Batswana throughout the country. Therefore, it goes without saying that any political party that enjoys the control and support of these media organs commands a huge audience. The political messages of such a political party are heard throughout the country, and because there is no contrary view many take such messages as the golden truth. 53. Madam Speaker, on the other hand the commercial media is very limited in its penetration of this vast country. The commercial media is also starved of information because the Government Communication and Information System which was established to facilitate government communication and information flow have proved ineffective. It specialises in issuing ministers’ speeches than answering questions posed by journalists. Government public relations officers are not empowered to answer media questions that land on their desks without referring them to Permanent Secretaries, the majority of whom are hostile to the media. I wish to congratulate the private radio stations for the aggressive campaigns that they mounted to promote the recently concluded voter registration exercise. 54. This situation is compounded by the refusal by the BDP government to pass a freedom of information law. Instead of enacting such an enabling legislation the BDP Government enacted laws such as the Media Practitioners’ Act to limit media freedom. The nation is anxiously waiting for Honourable Masisi’s promise that he will bring a Freedom of Information Bill for debate in Parliament. 55. Madam Speaker, we have fears that as we approach the next general election in 2014, thecontrol and abuse of the public media will be intensified. The frequency of the President and his ministers’ visits to villages will increase next year so as to maximum their media exposure. 56. Madam Speaker, we strongly advocate for the transformation of the public media as aninstitution funded by the taxpayer. It should be transformed into a public service media which serves the public without being a hostage or tool of those in power.The transformation will ensure equitable access to this media by all political players and other stakeholders. The opposition should be able to convey their messages to the electorate through Btv, Radio Botswana and Daily News at the same intensity and level as the BDP. This can only happen if the current status of the public media is transformed. 57. The public service media that we are advocating for will be a creation of an Act of Parliament. It will be answerable to an independent Board; arepresentative Board of different sectors or interestssuch as, for example, the youth, women, religion, sport, politics, business, education and others. The Board should be appointed through a public hearing where candidates appear before a selection panel to justify why they should be appointed to the Board. The Chief Executive of the public service media will be answerable to the Board which will be the appointing authority. 58. Madam Speaker, to further strengthen the credibility of the said public service media, we advocate for the development of an Editorial Charter which will direct the media in favour of a journalism driven by public interest.The Editorial Charter will set minimum requirements of the public service media. This will assist the practitioners to know their mandate and consumers of public service media services to know what to expect and demand quality service if lacking. An independent Board and Editorial Charter will also ensure that these media organs are insulated from both political and commercial pressures. 59. It will also ensure that the public service media enjoys editorial and operational independence even while still being funded by the government. It is hypocritical for the BDP leaders to criticise other African governments such as Zimbabwe for monopolising the public media while they do the same here. 60. What we are advocating for is not anything new because state broadcasters in the SADC region have been turned into public broadcasters. In addition to, SADC countries have introduced community radio service in addition to the public and commercial broadcasting. 61. Madam Speaker, access to public media should be enjoyed by all those competing for political power and other interests. This is one way of levelling the political playing field because the electorate will be exposed to different political messages and make informed decisions. We therefore, propose Madam Speaker that the Independent Electoral Commission should develop a code of conduct to govern both the media and political parties during the election. 62. This process should start now and not on the eve of the election. Such a code of conduct will set parameters and limits to the placing of political messages over the broadcast media. This will ensure that no political party dominates just because they have more money. This code will curb the current abuse of incumbency which the BDP has perpetrated with impunity over the years. 63. Madam Speaker, the level of access to the public media by political parties should be one of the critical issues to be considered when evaluating whether an election has been free, fair and credible. So far, past Botswana elections have been free but not fair because of the abuse of state resources such as the public media by the ruling Party. 64. The BDP leaders have not only abused the public media during elections but other public resources such as transport - vehicles and aircrafts. It is an open secret that the President and Vice President fly around in state helicopters during the electioneering period. When these leaders move around during campaigns they are followed by convoys of state vehicles carrying public officers at immense cost to the taxpayer. GENDER ISSUES 65. Gender equity has been a major casualty since the present government took over in 2009. When Khama took over in 2008, there were five women in cabinet and today there are only two in that position. Botswana has the lowest women representation among SADC countries in Parliament. South African has made major strides to achieve 50% women’s representation in parliament while Botswana has less than seven percent. This government has refused to sign the SADCC protocol on gender thereby demonstrating its lack of interest in advancing the rights and interests of women. 66. The BCP, as an alternative government has made major strides in promoting gender equity. Our party constitution makes it mandatory that at least 30 per cent of office bearers in our central committee must be women. We in the BCP continue to engage in advancing the interests of women and pushing for gender equity. In this regard, I should point out that the BCP and its National chairperson, CdeMotsieRapelana made history by being the first woman chairperson of a political party in Botswana. We congratulate her for such a major achievement and the members of the BCP for espousing the empowerment of women. I will also call upon all women of this country to seriously consider joining the BCP as it has demonstrated that it cares for them. Madam Speaker, the BCP is committed to doing a lot towards achieving gender equity and upon attaining state power, we shall continue on this path. JUSTICE, DEFENCE AND SECURITY 67. Madam Speaker, the judiciary is a key component of any constitutional democracy. The judiciary is deemed by all liberal and progressive democracies as the last line of defence especially against the excesses of the powerful executive. Ordinary members of the public look to the judiciary for a fair and judicious resolution of disputes between citizens inter se and also for protection from the conduct of a powerful executive against the citizens. The respect for the judiciary is premised on the belief that the judiciary is corruption free and competent to resolve disputes without fear or favour. We have confidence in the judiciary if the appointment of our judges is transparent and is truly independent from the executive. 68. Madam Speaker, We as the BCP are very much concerned of service delivery in our judiciary. As we are all aware justice delayed is justice denied.We Call upon all stake holders to expedite service delivery in our judicial system. An effective and robust judiciary is a sine quo non for development. Citizens rely on the judiciary to enforce contracts, protect their liberty.BCP recognises that delays are inevitable in a system that values due process. The roman maxim,justice rushed is justice crushed underscore the importance of adhering to speed limits on the high way of justice.Excessive and unreasonable delays leads to a decline in the confidence in the judiciary and resort to black market justice. 69. Madam Speaker, the recent statements by the Chief Justice in which he essentially accuses the judges, lawyers and High court registry staff of corruption has had significant impact on our peoples confidence in our judiciary. We call upon all stake holders and in particular the Chief Justice,law society and all the judges to come together and find common ground. Botswana is our country and we must all to anything and everything to save it. INDUSTERIAL COURT 70. Madam Speaker, we continue to receive complaints of delays in hearing of cases in the Industrial Court. It appears a case takes an average of 3-4 years to come before court and in most instances, when a matter finally comes before court, it will be dismissed for want of prosecution. Matters will be dismissed because litigants have lost interest in them and decided to go on with their lives or that they have changed addresses and can no longer be traced. This problem appears to be similar to the one which used to be experienced by the High Court before the introduction of the new case management system. 71. We once again register our displeasure at the manner in which the justices of the Industrial Court are appointed. These justices are appointed by the President without the involvement of the Judicial Service Commission. We also repeat our calls to have a Labour Appeals court to deal with appeals from the Industrial Court. SECURITY FORCES ( BOTSWANA POLICE SERVICE, BOTSWANA PRISONS SERVICE, BOTSWANA DEFENCE FORCE) AND THE DCEC 72. Madam Speaker, the national security of this country has until the emergence of the DIS been ably handled by the Botswana Police Service, Botswana Defence Force, Botswana Prisons Service together with the Special branch and later Security Intelligences Services and the Military Intelligence. These organisations have served us well for more than four decades. These security formations worked harmoniously together to ensure the security of all of us and our country. The inception of the DIS has brought a lot of confusion, disharmony and friction between and within the security forces of this country thereby threatening our national security. Not only is the DIS a threat to our national security but most significantly it poses a serious threat to the national economy. The following are clear indications that the DIS is a threat to our economy and also paralysis and undermines other security forces; i. It has now rendered the PPADB irrelevant as it has taken over the award ofgovernment tenders. This has become so much of a problem to a point that the DIS seem to have the powers to cancel an award given by the PPADB. ii. The DIS has also rendered irrelevant the Immigration board and has paralyzed the operations of the Immigration and labour departments. The DIS continues to frustrate business by declining issuance of work and residence permits to investors on some obscure security reasons which are never disclosed. This has notably crippled the University of Botswana recruitment drive and we have lost a good number of solid foreign academics to other countries because of the delay in processing their work and residence permits and the cumbersome and irrational requirements by the DIS. iii. The DIS interferes with all operations of government to a point of interfering in the allocation of land. Not so long ago, the DIS was involved in a farm allocation scandal and it stubbornly refused to release a report of their investigations which was the basis for denying some applicants farm allocations. iv. The reports of DIS and/or security agents eavesdropping in telephone conversation of private citizens refuses to go away. v. The DIS is now an epicentre for corruption and bad governance especially that their procurement processes and procedures are very obscure. vi. A number of parastatal boards have not been appointed because some nominated candidates have not been cleared by the DIS. What is happening in Botswana is reminiscent of the McCarthyism in the United States in the fifties where political opponents of the then ruling party where regarded as communists. This period is regarded as dark period in the political history of America. In Botswana everybody who is not BDP is smoked out of the system . All appointments to positions of director and above are subjected to security clearance by DIS hence the current high vacancy rate in the public service. Under this new political arrangement opposition members also denied government tenders as DIS has the last word on these issues. The Botswana version for McCarthyism is called Kgosiism in some political circles. 73. The BCP is not opposed to the formation of an intelligence service. It is very important for any nation in this era to have an intelligence service which is run professionally with adequate and sufficient checks and balances in terms of oversight institutions. We are opposed to the manner in which the DIS is currently constituted with obscure mandate which seem to be open ended. The DIS in its current form does not inspire confidence in the people and it lack strategic direction and positioning in our society. This explains why, it clashes with other security outfits. The BCP calls for a proper intelligence service guided by international best practices and not a bunch of spindrifts in dark glasses and pistols. BOTSWANA POLICE SERVICE, BOTSWNA DEFENCE FORCE AND BOTSWANA PRISONS SERVICE 74. The conditions of service all our disciplined forces are deplorable. Their salaries are low and not competitive. Their accommodation is pathetic as some sleep in tents and the majority of officers share accommodation including married ones. The situation in our disciplined forces has led to poor morale and poor service delivery. These forces have become happy hunting grounds for the DIS recruitment machinery, who continues to poach experienced members of the BDF, Police Service and the Prisons Service. They work in highly oppressive and hostile environment. On the other hand their cousins in the DIS swim in opulence and reside in expensive suburbs in town houses. While the interdiction on half salary has been scrapped of in the rest of the Public Service, it continues to cause financial hardships within our Defence Force, Police and Prisons Services. There is urgent need for reform in order to improve the work condition of our disciplined forces. INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 75. Madam Speaker, our foreign policy has been atrocious to say the least. This government continues in its path of practising roof top diplomacy. This kind of diplomacy is so reckless that it now posses a serious threat to our national security. We believe it is reckless and dangerously misguided for our country to pick unnecessary fights with known extremists and fundamentalists because in so doing we are inevitably placing the security of our people in jeopardy. We encourage government to tone down on its roof top diplomacy because we certainly are not possessed of the requisite military and intelligence capacity to match the foreign policy positions we sometimes take. 76. It is an embarrassment to all of to learn that, President Khama has recently invited the Kenyan president for a state visit here. President UhuruKenyata, we are told, is here on a state visit. The question is how do we now invite him to come here as our guest after shouting at our rooftops pronouncing to the world that, we are prepared to arrest him and hand him over to the International Criminal Court for him to stand his trial.Interestingly, we are not prepared to hand any American serviceman to any international tribunal to stand trial. This is contradiction in terms and makes us hypocrites and anti -Africa. CONCLUSION 77. Madam Speaker, we have demonstrated the serious shortcomings the Khama led government and their lack of capacity to propel this country forward. I wish to assure the nation that the BCP is ready and willing to take this country forward and resolve the miseries and hardships visited on them by the BDP’s half century misrule. 78. We will be presenting a number of motions in the coming 12 months that have a direct bearing on the lives of Batswana. The motions include the introduction of a living wage as opposed to a minimum wage, a review of the decision to ban hunting, tertiary education sponsorship as well as tax relief for parents who send their children to private schools and the urgent re-introduction of tenant purchase scheme under the BCP. 79. The time is now to take responsibility for our country and relieve the ailing BDP of the reigns of power. I urge all citizens of this country to vote out BDP.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Nov 2014 05:29:02 +0000
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