Frenzy of Soviet-style privatization in full swing
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Botswana should anticipate the proliferation of new superrich oligarchs as a season of privatising state enterprises looks set to continue beyond Air Botswana.
In an all-round futuristic attitude, the Minister for Transport and Communications; Kitso Mokaila, told the press this Thursday that they might consider privatizing Botswana Railways as a way of shaking off loss making parastatals. Mokaila stated that his desire is to see independent parastatals that generate own income instead of gobbling state funds. He mentioned that in communicating to the Botswana Railways board of directors, he advised them to maintain an open minded line towards privatization of the train company.
“When I wrote to the board, I said to them that if it is possible we should privatize Botswana Railways so that we break new grounds and start transporting goods into West, Central and East Africa.” When probed further, Mokaila stated that he cannot say for certain at the moment whether they will privatize BR stating that they intend to conduct a research beforehand.
Mokaila further said that one of the aspects that will ease his ideal of continental trade is the construction of Kazungula Bridge which is both road and rail in kind. He said that his ministry intends to adopt a forward sighted approach “to see if a train will not pass through the wildlife area of Kasane as we export into Central Africa since there are wildlife issues of migration routes.”
He further revealed that when construction is complete, the Kazungula corridor will service 800 vehicles daily as compared to the 200 that are able to flow into and out of Zambia daily. Deputy Permanent Secretary for Transport in Mokaila’s ministry, Isaac Moepeng, also denied that the country’s South-North railway has reached its end life. The rail line has been washed away by rains numerous times in the recent past, derailing and running trains aground. Mokaila revealed that the recent damage to BR resultant of derailed trains cost government a staggering figure of P 8 million.
Moepeng, however revealed that, with Chinese assistance, in 1985 BR overhauled the then 40 kilogram per meter section of the railway to 50 kilogram per meter upraised on concrete sleepers. He further noted that this meant that government can now move more tonnages of goods on the tracks revealing that the railway still has 32 years of life left in it. Moepeng stated that, in fact, BR is underutilising the railway as they move 2 million tons of goods per annum on a railway that has the aptitude to haul up to 4 million tons.
Regarding Air Botswana, Mokaila conceded that the national carrier had been troubled citing among other reasons, the country’s population and unprofitable routes. He also revealed that his ministry has so far received 17 expressions of interest to take up 52% of the national carrier’s stake. He however declined to name the individuals and companies that stepped up only stating that due process is still underway. He further revealed that they have roped in the services of International Air Transport Association (IATA) to assess the 17 expression of interest for viability, “to look for the best model, avoid job losses and come up with a good airline.”
He also said that the dire situation at the carrier is evident as can be seen with the downscaling of aircrafts from formerly 8 to the current 4. Mokaila also acknowledged that the carrier’s pilots are leaving en masse for better prospects elsewhere, stating that: “I am happy when they leave because they get better opportunities.” Moepeng, for his part, revealed that out of the airliner’s 40 pilots, “10 have left and some are still going.”
Some of the state enterprises that were privatized and offloaded in recent memory include Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), Water Affairs as well as Bamangwato Concessions Limited (BCL). Air Botswana now joins Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) on the ranks of state companies awaiting privatization while BR could follow soon.
Quantum of Damages
Mokaila, under whose ministry falls the Department of Roads stated that his ministry will compile an assessment of the country’s damaged road network and then make presentations to cabinet. He further stated that the assessment will determine the quantum of the damages which will advise him when he requests funding from cabinet. “There has been road damage after the recent rains while other roads were in a bad state long before the recent rains. Some will need maintenance while some will need rebuilding.”
He further continued to state: “We haven’t measured the cost of damages caused by the rains. After we do that I will go to cabinet to present what I have and how much we need. I will then go to parliament and ask for money because these damages were not budgeted under the NDP 11.” Mokaila also stated that while the Department of Roads has the equipment such as road graders the department seems to be bogged down. He said that to untangle this conundrum, the roads department will look to private contractors to assist them.
“Re bobotlana rele lephata, we have graders but we are not fast,” stated Mokaila. Among some of the shambolic roads he counted include the Mogobane-Lobatse road which he personally inspected, Gaborone-Lobatse road, Francistown-Nata road as well as the Nata-Maun road.
Mokaila also promised to mount a spirited fight against network providers for inflating costs in his ‘national agenda’. “We want to see to it that prices go down. As a national agenda you should decide whether you want to protect big business or you will see to it that you want prices to go down.You shouldn’t be shy about it. You shouldn’t beat about the bush, if we do that we will lag behind. Don’t ask me how,” Mokaila said as he parried off questions from the press.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.
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BDP MPs demand review of Ministers performance
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) backbenchers were left frustrated when State Minister Kabo Morwaeng failed to furnish them with reports from various ministries at a party retreat held last month.
The two-day retreat of BDP MPs at Notwane Farms was held to discuss the implementation and progress of government projects in line with the party’s 2019 general elections manifesto, in order to assert themselves and press the President to take action against ineffective members of his cabinet. They believed that the laxity of these members could cost them the elections next year.
To accomplish this, the party had requested that each ministry submit their reports to the State Ministry, as it was the most senior ministry. These reports were expected to be assessed at the retreat to evaluate service delivery and the implementation of the party manifesto.
The ministries submitted their performance reports to the Ministry as agreed, but Masisi and the MPs did not have the opportunity to review them. This was the main agenda of the retreat, but when it commenced, and many were anticipating the reports, they were nowhere to be found.
“Minister Morwaeng told us (MPs) that he forgot to prepare them, and as a result, there was nothing to discuss. He said he would share those reports in our WhatsApp group. To us, that was an insult because it is a very serious matter, and we needed to discuss it and see which ministry is failing and how it can be assisted to ensure that service delivery is met,” revealed one MP to WeekendPost.
Reliable sources have informed this publication that one of the reasons why the reports were not shared is due to the poor performance of the State Ministry. It is said that the Minister decided not to share the reports because it would portray him as incompetent, especially since President Masisi was present and seeking suggestions from MPs.
It is understood that the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, performed well, while the Ministry of Health and the State Ministry performed poorly.
The MPs are primarily concerned about the lack of correlation between the ministries’ recurrent and development budgets.
“You would notice that in some cases, a ministry would spend their recurrent budget accordingly, but when you look at their development expenditure, it is at 15 percent. That’s the money that should ensure that people receive services and amenities, and we wanted to advise ministers to communicate with bureaucrats to address this,” added the MP.
Without the reports, and with the expected agenda now in tatters, it is said that President Masisi asked MPs to come up with suggestions on how to win public confidence to secure victory in the next elections. It was at this point that backbenchers asked President Mokgweetsi Masisi to crack the whip on ineffectual ministers who had failed to fulfill their mandates. MPs expressed their concerns to the President, particularly regarding the state of affairs at the hospitals.
“There is a serious shortage of medicines and personnel in our areas, especially in rural areas. We have been complaining about this situation for some time, but there seems to be no change,” one MP told WeekendPost.
“The state of our roads and infrastructure is in disrepair. What irks us the most is that we have been complaining about these things for some time, but there has been no change. We demand progress.”
The issue of poor delivery and the significant deficit in the ruling party’s election promises is so severe that President Masisi had his ministers sign performance agreements and annual performance plans. The President effectively read them the riot act, informing them that they would be fired if they continued to fall short in delivering on their mandates.
He told journalists at a press conference that he recently had a serious engagement with Minister of Health Minister Dr. Edwin Dikoloti and Assistant Minister of Health Sethomo Lelatisitswe regarding the deplorable state of affairs at public health facilities.
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