NOTES TRANSCRIPT: A RESPONSE TO 2014 SONA, BY BONNINGTON SOUTH MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT NDABA NKOSINATHI GAOLATHE 1. Madam Speaker, we who are gathered here today cannot consecrate the work that brings us here. It is the work long commenced and consecrated by our forefathers, not all of whom were part of this legislature, men and women who understood “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” to be the birth-rights of all our people. Men and women who believed that all people were born equal. 2. And on this 11th Parliament, the people have entrusted all of us, wearing different party colours, emanating from different parts of the country and as students of different backgrounds and upbringing, with this work – this work long consecrated by those who have come ahead of us. 3. Their boots are outsize – the Late President Seretse Khama, the late Honourable Kenneth Koma and the late Honourable Tshelang Masisi who graciously foretold my role in politics and who sought to cultivate it even as we served different parties. What defined these men, apart from their exquisite insights into the role of Government and how it should work, is that their lives served as living examples of leaders in a Government of the people, by the people and for the people. 4. Madam speaker, our Movement the UDC and I were the unlikely victor at the polls in a Parliamentary contest at Bonnington South, but the people showed, once more that no one individual is greater or smaller than the will of the people. The people of Bonnington showed the country, and indeed the world, that indeed, in the words of Hugo, “there is nothing more powerful in the world than idea whose time and come”. They proposed to each other that the idea of Change has come. And change is what they will vote for. And to paraphrase our leader at the UDC, Change is what they will live for. Change should be “our job description”. 5. The people of Bonnington South showed their power, that as a people they are powerful: they can send to Parliament, anyone, anyone no matter how weak or strong they may appear, no matter how dull or lively they may seem, no matter how low or high the tone of their voice, no matter how experienced or inexperienced they may be deemed to be. This is the testimony of the elections of 2014, that Change is what the people are seeking. They are longing for a new way of doing things. They are yearning for honesty and fairness. And for this I express my gratitude to them. Thank you to the people of Bonnington South that you should have chosen a man who possesses none of those grand attributes of politics, a man whose only asset might be a simple connection with the truth. 6. Anyone who has had the immense privilege of not only an encounter with Gomolemo Motswaledi but a shared life with him, understands how generous and wealthy life can be. That person becomes the impeccable witness to a life well lived, a life well shared and life whose light beacon does not fade with time or place. That I occupy the place of responsibilities that were once his means no choice is left to me but to embrace the spirit of excellence that Honourable Boko talked about, the same spirit that drove Gomolemo to his astounding heights, the same spirit of excellence that all our people who are serious about change must no later than now embrace, and the same spirit without which our vision will become a mirage. 7. And here I must also thank our leader Hon Gideon Boko for the impeccable captain he has been in this ship that has had to brave the rough waters. This team of honourable members of the UDC and of the BCP, I am immensely proud of you. And to the honourable members of the BDP there is no point in thanking you, for no one will believe it to be honest, so I will say to you, it is always good to see all of you, and I will keep it at that. 8. I will remain silent about my late father, Honourable Baledzi Gaolathe or my late mother Isabella or my late sister Zingisa, all of whose human attributes far exceed any ovation or tribute that my language is able to fathom. But honour is fitting for living as well, as it is fitting to my siblings and family at large. 9. In the SONA the head of state, correctly takes up the duty to update the people of Botswana. To be fair to him, no single speech is able to appraise with perfection progress or lack of progress in the affairs of the economy, governance or life in Botswana all within several pages or within a space of one our or two hours. My colleagues and I are not in charge of the Executive or the administrative levers of Government. Our job is not to run Government. Our role is not to dwell on criticisms. Our role is not to block initiatives that may be good or in the national interest. 10. The role of our Movement, as wisely summed by Honourable Boko is that of spirited monitoring of Governance and progress. Our role is to offer practical and creative ideas even if they may not be adopted, subsequently. 11. The line that our Government takes, as any Government in their place would, is that Botswana is peaceful and tranquil. The SONA admonishes all those who purvey the “rumour” that some of our people live in fear. 12. Let the record show that I am among those who purvey the idea that Botswana is neither peaceful no tranquil. Everyday I witness tales and tears of men and women who are afraid of their own Government. Some of them are witnesses to unexplained incidents of horror, and some of them are actual victims – all of them are afraid to report these, for no one knows to whom they could make their case. 13. There is nothing peaceful when Government security operatives slay individuals for purported crimes, which allegedly could not have been resolved through the normal justice system. There is nothing peaceful about a nation that feels there is someone out there eavesdropping on their phone calls and surveying their movements for no reason that is apparent to them other than that their views differ from those who are in power. Our media is intimidated by the those in power. 14. There is no peace when our young give up on their lives far too early, because they observe that their talents and excellence amount to nothing if they are not part of a close-knit exclusive club of friends that dictates the distribution of resources of our land. 15. We cannot talk of peace when the laws of our land grant secret operatives of our country to do as they wish under the protection of the law. In fact our country is run by the whims of a monstrous secret service that holds at ransom even those who may have created them. 16. So leave us alone to acknowledge what is true. Leave us alone to shed the same tears that our people shed because they feel besieged by a fearsome regime. 17. Even as the State instills fear upon its people, our conviction is that we as a people should have “nothing to fear but fear itself.” We should brave the rough waters as we did in October, for the real power is in the hands of the ordinary masses. We must endure this journey for the time and place are not far away, when the people will govern themselves; a time when we will completely obliterate governance by fear, a time when we will have a true Government of the people by the people for the people. 18. To the people of Botswana, nothing stops us from borrowing from the past, and Madam speaker please allow me to quote “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the her 19. Madam speaker, Government as whole must carry its burdensome role: “The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but can not do at all, or can not so well do, for themselves – in their separate, and individual capacities.” 20. Madam speaker, in a small population such as ours we have no excuse why Government cannot and should not pave a path for a people that should be known for their material prosperity and greatness. We cannot achieve this without creating strong institutions on the foundation 21. Madam Speaker, the institution that you now lead, this esteemed and prestigious Parliament, is weaker than it should be. You lead an institution that should have its own technical capacity to draft bills with swiftness and impact. It is strange, and even criminal, that the legislative wing of Government in Botswana has less legal capacity that many SMMEs I have worked with. It is stranger that an entire wing of Government does not have a budget or economic office, let alone a single economist, to provide an independent and equally authoritative assessment of the budget and its welfare impacts. This is abnormal by every measure, no matter how poor a country may deem itself to be or frugal its economic habits might be. [Even worse, legal counsel is appointed from the Executive] 22. Madam speaker, note these words, that the institution you lead is an entire branch or wing of Government. Its work, to make laws and provide oversight over an executive with many ministries, thousands of projects or assignments, and hundreds of thousands of employees means to do its work effectively, it should build the capacity to do so. As it stands, Parliament is top heavy – in other words, if we were to view members of Parliament as Directors of an institution, then in Botswana we have more directors, much more directors than the technical staff we lead. This is unheard of, anywhere in the world. If this is by design, to safeguard the power of the Executive to do as it pleases, then it is a mistake that will cost many generations of our people the lives they deserve. 23. The very Executive that thinks is protecting its power, will in fact lose its power, by missing out on the opportunity that a strong Legislature affords it – the opportunity to constantly check and improve itself towards excellence, the opportunity to be more creative and effective in building a prosperous nation. This is a simple principle of a child – lets call him broGovy – lets call his heard “parliament”, his heart is “executive” and his legs “the judiciary”. The fact is no matter how big broGovy’s heart is, or how strong his legs are, if his head or brains are missing, broGovy will achieve nothing, because broGovy is stunted. We need to fix this as a country, and we need to do it urgently. Madam, I propose to you that the Government of Botswana as a whole is stunted. 24. We need a significantly capacitated Legislative arm of Government. Public and quasi-public institutions in Botswana Water, power institutions 1. Key developmental assignments of our country are implemented by Government Ministries or Government departments and state-owned enterprises. These assignments may be complex, financially significant and far-reaching in terms of the impact they will cause in the life of our people and the economy. We know this to be true about the Botswana Power Corporation in respect to the price and availability of power in the country. Another example is the Botswana Water Utilities, a parastatal responsible for bulk water supply as well as distribution, and now with a relatively new mandate of sewerage connection and distribution management. 2. Madam speaker, the efficiency and effectiveness of these institutions determine if our country is able to provide energy or water to all our people and for all our productive purposes, they determine if this will happen at affordable or competitive prices in a sustainable way. They are a collective determinant of how competitive our country can be in certain sectors and also determine the quality of life among our people in general. 3. Put it differently, if these institutions do not function or if they operate with no regard for excellence, then we throw away an entire generation’s prospects for economic success or a satisfactory quality of life for endless power outages, high energy prices, water shortages and expensive sewerage connections charges, missed opportunities in industries that are water or power intensive or missed opportunities to develop water and energy sectors themselves is a sure way to keep our people poor and struggling. 4. Madam Speaker, our standards for ensuring that such institutions increasingly enhance their capacity and capabilities are low. As a country we have no regard for good governance, or planning for the long term or for the creative structuring of these entities or satellite entities that regulate their work. It is common to find that the boards of these companies are in limbo, and their Chief Executive Officers are in acting roles for years. 5. We do not appoint on merit most times, we appoint not just loyalists but friends who are not considered the best or near the best among their cohort or within their professional fraternities. This is a fact, and is all in the open, we are a small country were citizens know who among them are more hardworking, more accountable or more qualified. 6. Madam Speaker, this habit is creating a vicious cycle, a tragic culture that shuns honesty and competence, effectiveness and excellence. This is a major cause of the decline of our public institutions. The decline will continue, if this matter is not addressed, and this and subsequent generation will feel it through an unduly stagnant economy. This is how we have lost hundreds of millions in poorly done projects, and billions in potential benefits for our people now and in years to come. 7. The same kind of trend is evident in the decline of the Botswana Meat Commission, and the dilapidating impact it has had on the rural economy especially in Ngamiland. Institutions in Education 8. After investing billions into the promising science and technology institution of our time, BIUST, the most able Vice Chanchellors are resigning from their work, due to poor governance standards being imposed on them from the Executive arm of Government. Thousands of students, highly talented students, wait at home to begin their university lives as BIUST continues to postpone commencement. How sad. How unnecessary, all due an encroaching culture of poor governance standards and lack of regard for excellence or fairness. 9. The poor standards in our education system in part reflects our neglect of teachers, including our neglect of proper incentives, welfare, empowerment and lack of regard of their ideas on how we can do better for our children. Many of their recommendations including the consideration of working hours, fairer payment of overtime, teacher housing and fairer compensation can be achieved. It is possible to work on a medium term plan to reduce class sizes. Students should not be guaranteed automatic progression even when they fail. 10. To achieve even higher quality in our education system, we need to enhance management capacity in schools to help coordinate and manage the affairs of teachers and students alike. We also need to provide access to libraries, modern infrastructure such as computing and multimedia facilities to both teachers and students. Students’ exposure to technical and science subjects or sports or other special subjects such as art, music and entrepreneurship should start early through extracurricular engagement with the world outside school. Head-teachers should be allowed and guided in establishing centers of excellence in certain fields, from as low as primary and secondary schools. Students must be able to attend special subjects at secondary schools and vocational schools other than their main place of enrolment. 11. We need to extend comprehensive scholarship systems to people living with disabilities at all levels and encourage the establishment of various specialty schools that cater for people with learning difficulties as well. 12. Our qualification systems should be compatible where possible, in other words diploma in pharmacy graduates at HIS should be able to join the University of Botswana BSc stream at some level other than begin from first semester, first year. 13. Students who fail a module while studying outside Botswana should be expected to pay the Government back based on an additional loan rather than deprive them altogether from completing their studies. Companies should be allowed to participate and contribute to the scholarship /loan system and receive incentives in return so they reduce burden on Government and at the same time empower their own employees. 14. With modern education systems, there are now free universities around the world providing high quality education, and some of them virtual universities over the net. Government should incorporate the funding of this model of education where the scholarships are directed to providing students access to computers, wireless Internet and books. These scholarships should be available to all deserving citizens, not just recent high school graduates. Employment creation, SMMEs, hawkers and entrepreneurs 1. Enough has been said about the high unemployment levels, especially of young people including graduates. It is no secret that many of our people, about a fifth of them still live in poverty. Even those who are in some form of employment can hardly make ends meet, the quality of their lives in low. 2. Madam speaker, Government’s initiatives are documented in the SONA; they include a litany of programmes such as business finance (CEDA, BDC, NDB), entrepreneurial training (LEA), various hubs (education hub, transport hub, diamond hub among others), investment promotion (BITC), agricultural schemes (NAMPAAD), plans for the Zambezi agriculture project, construction of the Kazungula bridge, the trans-khalahari railway, Ipelegeng, student internship programme, an envisaged law on people living with disabilities and an envisaged coal sector road-map. No one should take way that some work is being done to diversify the economy, or create employment opportunities or alleviate poverty. 3. Our contention remains that we can do better, much better in achieving the ends of job creation, greater participation of the majority of our citizens in the mainstream economy, fairer distribution of resources and the alleviation of poverty. 4. For a Government that prides itself in championing open economics, it is surprising that the country is not getting some of the basics right, of nurturing enablers to economic prosperity: 5. Madam speaker we draw from our manifesto the idea for the need to urgently: Large and small businesses 6. Service large pockets of land for industrial/residential use and allocate it for use expeditiously 7. Craft clear immigration policy that regulates the balance and availability of key skills necessary to build our economy, and critical for skills transfer 8. Focus on few but key strategic sectors including mineral beneficiation, sustainable agriculture/food processing, tourism, transport, energy, water and services sectors (banking, ICT, education services, medical services, engineering services, entertainment, leisure sports and tourism) 9. Establish a more wholesome and integrated business financing intervention by Government based on the selected strategic sectors – Minerals and mineral processing Fund, Diversified Fund, Infrastructure Fund and the Services Fund. Each of these Funds could be managed by a network of management companies including CEDA, NDB, BDC and other managers or none of these entities, based on targets for each sector (none of these management companies should be guaranteed to retain management rights if they perform badly) 10. Invest significantly more on Research and Development to develop local foods, local medicines, material science development, beneficiation of local minerals Small businesses/dimausu especially 11. Promulgate laws that facilitate more readily the participation of citizens in sectors with traditionally high barriers such as banking. Nurses should be able to establish clinics that focus on certain ailments. Doctors should be able to use equipment and offices in public hospitals even when they private provided there are contracts to do so. Pharmacists should be allowed. Hawkers and small businesses should also be able to operate from home under specified restrictions to manage their costs. Government Funds or financing mechanism should give high priority to dimausu/small businesses that work in groups or associations and calibrate interventions to focus more on seminars, skill transfer, technology enhancement, management while making funding almost automatic where certain levels of competency and criteria are met. SMEs must also be able to operate from home and key strategic places under regulations agreed upon by associations. Large chain stores should be provided with minimum standards for incorporating SMEs into their value chain and supply chain. Sub-sectors such as horticulture should be receive high priority in the drive for job creation. Infrastructure is key for the future 12. Madam Speaker, our approach to infrastructure development is fragmented and not well coordinated. Our objectives in infrastructure development should be to a) help existing businesses grow b) develop our natural competencies c) diversify the economy and d) create Botswana into a pleasurable place to live. If we can develop our infrastructure in a serious way, these long-term infrastructure projects would create mass employment for our citizens in the cities and in rural areas. These projects and the sectors that they inspire would more than absorb people currently absorbed by Ipelegeng. Procurement 13. Madam speaker our entire system of procurement is in disarray especially for medium and large projects. That is how we will continue to waste billions of Pulas, miss out on true economic transformation, skew wealth, stunt growth and breed resentment among our people. 14. We need to fix our entire procurement cycle, right from the design of concept, drafting of terms of reference, deploying the right human resources to do these functions and adjudicate. We need to promulgate laws to ensure participation of local companies, young people, women and communities provided certain conditions are met to ensure fairness and excellence. Bonnington South 15. Madam Speaker I represent Bonnington South, a constituency that is a replica of the dichotomy that defines our society, our Botswana. We have the plushest mansions and yet there are families of more 10 people that share two-roomed houses in our high-density areas. We have four-lane highways sandwiching us, yet roads in our high-density areas are unpaved and dusty. And if I may say so myself, we have the best football team, Township Rollers (and I mean no offence to honourable Mangole or honourable Davids or honorable Kebonang or Honorable Mmolotsi), yet we do not have proper sport academies or facilities. We have the best-resourced private schools yet our Government schools don’t even have fences or running toilets, let alone libraries or enough computers and our teachers have no accommodation. We have the Kgale Hill, and the place where the lady’s detective film was shot, yet no tourism activity to show-off our heritage. We have the Gaborone Technical College, a good thing by name, but this school is neglected, its teachers neglected and its students abandoned and such a school will not produce the type of graduate that our economy needs. 16. Madam Speaker my constituency has the best musicians in the country, Scavenger, Eskimos, Maikano Serenaders yet none of them have records selling in South Africa. Bonnington South has the best beaders, the best sculptors and yet the large monuments in Botswana costing in excess of P30 million are being built by foreign companies that are not necessarily better than ours. 17. Madam Speaker, you should come to Bonnington south, oh what a vibrant mass of young people, many of them graduates, but no job opportunities, others have not done well at high school and they don’t know what direction to take. People are selling from their homes whatever little they can, and they sleep at night afraid that their semausus might be closed tomorrow. 18. The night at Bonnington South feels like the night of a cave, dark and fearsome because the street-lights are off, they have been off for years. When the rainy season comes, the homes become dams and the furniture and whatever little property the people have are destroyed, a never-ending tale. We have open spaces, but none of them developed into leisure parks or proper sporting venues. The people do not have the resources to go and build a home elsewhere and the homes they live in are not connected to the sewerage line because it is expensive for them to do so. The quality of our education is not always satisfactory and yet it is our aspiration to produce the engineers, scientists, doctors and managers of our time. Many of our residents work for Ipelegeng with little prospect of making a real life break into meaningful employment. 19. I am not saying that these problems are for the Executive alone to resolve. In Bonnington South, we plan to bring our community together and work to facilitate the resolution of these lapses. Our proposal to Government: • Grant the Gaborone City Council more powers to coordinate the following activities in the larger Gaborone • The branding of Gaborone as a center of diamond aggregation, student tourism and a gateway to other parts of Africa • The urgent implementation of a coordinated and integrated infrastructure programmes over a multi-year period focusing on water drainage/storage, sewerage, roads, street-lights, pedestrian overhead bridges, school maintenance programmed • Specific PPP projects to develop open spaces into leisure parks and sports facilities, and manage them • Specific PPP projects to develop community tourism businesses including, possibly, a joint venture Gaborone tourist bus and route with specific development of tourist hubs – a community chesa-nyama/local restaurant hub, Kgale-hill and Lady’s Detective site • PPP for planned annual calendar activities such a marathon and other special activities • Community projects to seminar local entrepreneurs • Community projects to assist student re-write high-school examinations • Community projects to advance the cause of people living with disabilities • Community projects to improve exposure of students to libraries, computers and life experiences • Community health initiatives to improve standard of health-care in Bonnington South • Forum to advance the working conditions of the police, nurses, teachers and other public servants in Bonnington South • Community planning initiative to devise initiative improve public transport system in the larger Gaborone • Promote the formation of Association for different sectors to mobilise collective development Labour 1. Both private and public sector workers are at the centre of driving the economy of Botswana and they need to be recognised at all times. The fact is morale is very low in the public service, and this needs to resolved: low salaries; no salary increment for the past six years; generally poor working and living conditions like hours of work (especially teachers); poor accommodation for teachers, police officers, BDF, prison officers, nurses and other public servants. The dispute resolution at the workplace circumstances: • There is a backlog of thousands cases at the Industrial Court (IC). • Case management at Industrial court should be computerised to minimise mix up of cases. • Most of the disputes at the Industrial court should have been resolved at the workplace. • Unfortunately, most workplaces in Botswana do not have effective and efficient dispute resolution mechanism. • The Bargaining Council has to be properly resourced with officers with requisite skills and experience so that they can easily appreciate the workers’ issues and resolve them appropriately, expeditiously and fairly. • One of the main causes of workers’ low morale is dispute resolution where their cases go for years unresolved. • The public sector unions have taken government to courts of law on several occasions. This should not be the case as most of the cases are a result of government intolerance towards the registered trade unions. • The private sector is also faced with numerous challenges • The lack of salary increment for the past six years in the public sector has directly influenced employers in the private and parastatal sector not to increase too. This has seriously eroded the buying power of Batswana workers. • Workers should be given some priority in opportunities for skill enhancement, further education and also information with which to potentially form business associations in groups. 2. Autonomy of some Statutory bodies • Labour advisory Board - Labour Advisory Board (LAB) can play a crucial role in improving labour related issues in Botswana. • Its role has to be defined as a check and balance to ministers’ powers 3. Factories Act • The act calls for regular inspection of the workplace, but this is not done, exposing workers to unimaginable dangers as safety and health standards are not observed by most employers. The Labour Department is under resourced to do the mandatory inspections as they have less than 10 labour inspectors country-wide and no regional inspectors. • There are about several major occupational hazards like personal injury, stress, etc which are a threat to the health of the workers. 4. It is not easy to form a trade union in Botswana, hence the thousands of ununionised workers in shops and filling stations. The threshold is too high for one to register a trade union. 5. Informal workers are still unregulated and this is a concern 6. Botswana is a member of the UN and therefore she should respect its agencies, like ILO. We need to significantly enhance the quality of our health system 1. Service providers: hospitals and clinics alike are understaffed. Not only doctors but nurses and professions. Understaffing means the staff gets overworked, and that leads to poor service and patients are the ones who suffer the most. 2. Equipment: lack of servicing of equipment, hospitals end up having to order new equipment and when its not serviced appropriately, it breaks down and hospitals/clinics go back to no equipment. Lack of technicians who are equipped to service should be sort after or trained so that maintenance and servicing is sufficient. 3. Supplies: hospitals are only effective if they can provide efficient service to patients. Without the right supplies, hospitals cut corners, improvise, take shortcuts and put patients lives at risk. The health procurement office needs to be staffed by health professionals, and there needs to be proper audits such that hospitals and clinics are stuffed with the right amount of supplies at all times. Medications and daily supplies should never run out. 4. Management: because of equipment failure and shortage of supplies, certain services become available too frequently to make one question whether the hospital is being managed effectively. Theatre can close with no forewarning to the surgical departments, which means cases are canceled, patients have to wait longer in hospital for surgery, and the waiting list becomes even longer. 5. Budget: each hospital/ clinic need to have a budget assigned to them specifically, done win conjunction with government/ MOH, depending on what is required. A special audit need to be carried out to facilitate that. A hospital like marina cannot be funded like a school child being given allowance on a weekly/monthly basis. Each facility need to draw up a budget for itself and be allocated funds as per financial year, such that shortages are avoided, and the MOH work becomes more decentralised. 6. Doctors: there are lots of doctors who leave the public service to the private sector. Public hospitals are understaffed and because the allocation of doctors is the responsibility of the ministry, it means hospitals are powerless. The protocol used by the ministry does not make sense to the public servants. Quality of life is important to everyone but its not considered when it comes to doctors and nurses. They overworked and our lives belong to our jobs. It should be hospitals who are responsible for recruiting and retaining doctors, not the ministry deciding on where doctors and nurses live or work. Doctors and nurses should have the opportunity to apply for a post at the specific facility that they desire. 7. Professional growth and progression: as a doctor, one has to grow professionally and specialise in a specific field. The government has to make provision for that possibility. Being a general MO is unfulfilling and makes for a poor career life 8. A Health Council that reports directly to Parliament, not to the Ministry of Health. As long as any council is under MOH theyll never be changes in our health system. There are so many flaws in the system and most which can be solved if there is an over-arching council that reports directly to Parliament Conclusion 1. Madam Speaker I remind you again that we are not in charge of the Administrative levers of Government. Our role as the Government-in-waiting is to nudge, prod, advise and monitor the Government of the day in right direction. If they listen to some of these interventions and implement them our country can become a major economic locomotive, tens of thousands of jobs will come to life, more citizens will participate in the economic mainstream, poverty among our people will give-in and the quality of life among our people will improve. Also, our system might begin to work. However, this would be but a foundation for a real push for more comprehensive change when the UDC forms Government in 2019. 2. Thank you Madam Speaker
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 18:20:14 +0000
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