Khama grills BDP MPs over spoilt votes
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Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) President Lt. Gen. Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama is said to have cast a frustrated face at a party caucus recently following events that unfolded in Parliament when his two new Specially Elected Members of Parliament went through the formal voting process.
Reports indicate that the President was not happy with the actions of some of his Members of Parliament during the voting session. He is said to have interrogated his battalion of party legislators at a party caucus this week over the spoilt votes during the voting of the SEMPs, WeekendPost has learnt.
Parliament was asked to vote for Mephato Reatile and Bogolo Kenewendo as Specially Elected Members of Parliament. The two were brought forward by President Khama as his preferred candidates to fill the two vacant posts that arose following the passing of an amendment that allowed for the increase of Specially Elected Members of Parliament from four to six.
Out of the 48 lawmakers who took part in the duo’s election, four votes cast by BDP members were “spoilt” as all the eleven opposition members’ who present during the voting session had abstained from the vote.
The spoiling of votes by the BDP legislators is said to have irked the party president who was physically present at the caucus that certified his choice of SEMPs last week. Only 33 cast their votes for Reatile while Kenewendo was voted for by 31. Insiders say those who spoilt votes deliberately were communicating their displeasure at the choice of candidates for the two new SEMP posts.
The caucus’ resolution that was reached after copious justifications was that Reatile was a politically charged hard worker while Kenewendo was a world class economist and both would add value to the party.
The BDP president is said to have “aired his concern” over the spoilt votes and told the BDP lawmakers that it was not the right thing to “spoil votes” and added that party members should always respect the decision of the caucus even when they had previously disagreed with such decisions.
“Yes it is true President Khama was concerned about the four BDP MP’s who spoilt their votes on SEMP nomination despite having endorsed both two SEMP nominees at the party caucus,” BDP Chief Whip and Letlhakeng/Lephephe legislator, Liakat Kablay confirmed to Weekend Post on Thursday.
MP Kablay explained that, “the caucus is binding and every decision is a consequence of heated debates amongst colleagues and ultimately the majority takes the order of the day and that’s how they came to a conclusion to endorse the president’s choice.”
This publication has gathered that the President felt embarrassed that some MP’s nonetheless went ahead and defied the party caucus decision. “Some MP’s felt that it will be difficult to trace those 4 outcast party legislators otherwise they would have called for their removal from the party,” Kablay maintained.
Indications suggest that two MPs may have apologised to the president already for contravening the party line. According to the BDP Chief Whip, “all MP’s were cautioned about breaking ranks with president Khama after caucus and they should refrain from frustrating him as a party leader.”
This publication understands that there were some legislators who raised alarm over Reatile’s being returned to parliament- instead proposing the name of party Secretary General, Botsalo Ntuane.
In particular the MP’s wanted to sabotage the inclusion of Reatile on SEMP dispensation as they felt it was unreasonable and uncalled for.
At the said party caucus, Francistown West lawmaker, Ignatious Moswaane and Shashe West legislator, Fidelis Molao were amongst those who did not shy away from breaking ranks with fellow party members and rather suggested Ntuane.
However it is understood that party MP’s turned down their offer on account that the president cannot be opposed on his choice. The general belief among the MPS was that the president might have had his own details in choosing the twosome that would possibly aid the party and consequently government. It is not clear whether the two were amongst the four that went further to spoil their votes in protest of president and by extension caucus’ choice of SEMP.
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Batswana owe banks P79 billion
The Minister of Finance, Peggy Serame, has disclosed that the total bank credit extended by commercial banks amounted to P79 billion, out of which P53.4 billion was retail loans and advances to households.
Parliament was informed this week in response to a question by the Member of Parliament for Selibe-Phikwe West and Leader of Opposition (LOO), Dithapelo Keorapetse.
“As at 31st December 2022, loans and other advances extended to households by banks constituted the largest share of bank-lending at 67.6 percent, the majority of which was unsecured personal loans at P36.2 billion (67.8%),” said Serame.
She added that the total household Debt to GDP ratio was 21.9%, while the total private business credit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio was 10.8%.
On the other hand, it was noted that outstanding mortgage loans extended to households were P14.2 billion (26.6% of household debt) or 5.9% of GDP. Overall, total bank credit as a ratio of GDP stood at 32.7 percent.
It was acknowledged that there are 10 deposit-taking banks in the country, that is, nine commercial banks and one statutory bank (Botswana Savings Bank). This statistics excludes the National Development Bank (NDB), which is a development finance institution. The nine commercial banks include an indigenous bank, Botswana Building Society Bank Limited (BBSBL), which was issued with a commercial banking license by the Bank of Botswana in October 2022.
Still in December 2022, it was recorded that there were 376 non-bank lenders in Botswana consisting of 246 micro lenders, 66 finance companies, three leasing companies and 61 registered pawnshops.
According to Minister Serame, the loan book value representing the principal amount lent by these entities to individuals and to small, medium and micro Enterprises (SMMEs) is collated by the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA), which at 31st of December 2021, the loan book values were P5.6 billion for micro lenders, P1.6 billion for finance companies, P225 million for leasing companies and P14 million for pawnshops.
Government policy is that price control is not effective or desirable, and, as such, interest rates are not regulated. Non-regulation may, among other things, result in an increase in non-interest rate fees and commissions, reduced price transparency, lower credit supply and loan approval rates.
“It is important to note that, from a macroeconomic perspective, household debt in Botswana is neither a pandemic nor considered to be excessive. Indeed, the Bank of Botswana’s periodic and continuous assessments of household debt, including through the annual Household Indebtedness Surveys, suggest moderate household indebtedness and therefore, is of no apparent risk to the safety and soundness of the domestic financial system,” said Serame.
She also alluded this assessment is validated by the recently concluded Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) on Botswana undertaken by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group.
Keorapetse however rebuked the issue of debt not being excessive and noted the Minister thinks it’s fine for Batswana to be debt burdened in a way that their debts diminishes their quality of life.
“A significant portion of Batswana’s salaries go to servicing debts and because she doesn’t see this as a challenge, there can never be any intervention from her side. There is no price regulation on interest, which can go up to 30%+ a month. Since President Masisi ascended to the high office in 2018, 2 384 Batswana were put in prison for failure to pay debts, that is 467 Batswana every year. So, for us, debt problems are big and concerning,” said Keorapetse.
He said they are worried because Batswana are drowning in debts because of relative poverty, slave wages and unemployment/underemployment, they buy basic needs and services with borrowed money and noted predatory and unethical lending has become a major problem in Botswana’s financial sector.
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How to fleece P14 million from Chinese investor
The modus operandi of how five men allegedly swindled a Chinese national P14 million last week continue to unravel. Highly placed sources from the intelligence, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) revealed to this publication how the whole scam was concocted.
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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES: Masisi asks Virginia for help
President Mokgweetsi Masisi says the issue of sustainable natural resources management has always been an important part of Botswana’s national development agenda.
Masisi was speaking this week on the occasion of a public lecture at Virginia Polytechnic, under theme, “Merging Conservation, Democracy and Sustainable Development in Botswana.”
Botswana, according to Masisi, holds the view that the environment is fragile and as such, must be managed and given the utmost protection to enable the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is necessary that we engage one another in the interchange of ideas, perspectives, visualizations of social futures, and considerations of possible strategies and courses of action for sustainable development,” said Masisi.
On the other hand, dialogue, in the form of rigorous democratic discourse among stakeholders presents another basis for reconfiguring how people act on their environments, with a view to conserving its resources that “we require to meet our socio-economic development needs on a sustainable basis,” Masisi told attendees at the public lecture.
He said government has a keen interest in understanding the epidemiology and ecology of diseases of both domestic and wild animals. “It is our national interest to forestall the dire consequences of animal diseases on our communities livelihoods.”
President Masisi hoped that both Botswana and Virginia could help each other in curbing contagious diseases of wildlife.
“We believe that Virginia Tech can reasonably share their experiences, research insights and advances in veterinary sciences and medicines, to help us build capacity for knowledge creation and improve efforts of managing and containing contagious diseases of wildlife. The ground is fertile for entering into such a mutually beneficial partnership.”
When explaining environmental issues further, Masisi said efforts of conservation and sustainable development might at times be hampered by the emergence and recurrence of diseases when pathogens mutate and take host of more than one species.
“Water pollution also kills aquatic life, such as fish, which is one of humanity’s much deserved sources of food. In this regard, One Health Approach imposes ecological responsibility upon all of us to care for the environment and the bio-diversity therein.”
He said the production and use of animal vaccines is an important space and tool for conservation, particularly to deal with trans-border animal diseases.
“In Botswana, our 43-year-old national premier pharmaceutical institution called Botswana Vaccine Institute has played its role well. Through its successful production of highly efficacious Foot and Mouth vaccines, the country is able to contain this disease as well as supply vaccines to other countries in the sub-region.:
He has however declared that there is need for more help, saying “We need more capacitation to deal with and contain other types of microbial that affect both animals and human health.”