MPs demand salary raise
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Liakat Kablay, MP for Letlhakeng/ Lephephe
Members of Parliament from across the political divide have expressed frustration and vexation at what they termed deplorable, appalling and atrocious working conditions.
They are very clear on their demands – a salary increase, and improved conditions of service.
More than a dozen Members of Parliament told this publication on the side lines of the ongoing Budget session that they were not at all pleased and satisfied with their conditions of service. But they are up against it because President Dr Lt Gen Ian Khama is the final arbitrator on this matter regardless of how much they lobby their line minister in Presidential Affairs and Public Administration Minister, Eric Molale.
In this debate, both the opposition and the ruling party are singing from the same hymn book. Four ministers who also spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity said they want a salary increase. One actually suggested that Ministers should be earning P100 000 a month, if regional trends were anything to go by. He said MPs should at least earn in the region of P45 000 a month.
Ninety percent of my salary spent on constituency – Salakae
Noah Salakae of Ghanzi North has a strong opinion on the subject. He said legislators are not happy with the fact that they are not provided with official transport when addressing kgotla meetings. To add salt to injury, he said, they are expected to hire public address system at their own expense.
“I am a proponent of salary increment and I am unapologetic about it. I am representing a vast constituency which is a size of Sweden and Switzerland combined. Ghanzi has poor road network and I dig deep into my pocket to hire suitable vehicles to traverse the constituency,” lamented Salakae.
The Ghanzi legislator further observed that he spends ninety per cent of his monthly salary on the constituency.
“Our salaries, benefits and allowances must be reviewed and should be comparable with other countries in the region. An MP in South Africa earns a basic salary of R120 000, meaning that his single salary can pay about five Botswana legislators but our GDP per capita income exceed that of South Africa. Some of us we have quit our plum posts because we were driven by passion and desire to serve our people. As Parliamentarians our salaries must be augmented and we be barred from making any business. Today most legislators are tenderpreneurs and that is a breeding ground for corruption as they end up abusing their powers,” he further stated.
MINISTERS ARE ABUSING THE GREEN BOOK – KABLAY
Liakat Kablay of Letlhakeng/ Lephephe said conditions of service for legislators are a disgrace and shaming the name of Botswana.
“Being an MP is an esteemed and high profile job which the general public hold in high regard. I spend a lot of money on my constituency and the party. I use my own private car to attend party events and demands of the constituency. Senior government officials are provided with transport but that is not extended to us,” bemoaned Kablay who is also the ruling party chief whip.
He noted that some former MPs died as paupers while majority of those who are still alive are impoverished and bankrupt. He proposed that their gratuity be increased from the current P300 000 to at least P1.2 million.
Kablay further complained about the disparity of benefits between ordinary MPs and ministers alleging that ministers can amend the Green Book to their own advantage as and when they want.
I COULD BE ATTRACTING 70 PERCENT SCARCE SKILL IN PUBLIC SERVICE – MZWINILA
Mmadinare legislator, Kefentse Mzwinila also complained about his salary and benefits. He said he was among highly qualified legislators with experience and expertise.
“Some of us we are well educated. I am a graduate of Yale University, while Duma Boko and Ndaba Gaolathe earned their masters’ degrees at Harvard and Wharton respectively. I don’t understand the criterion that was used to determine our salaries because what I get is not commensurate with my qualification,” he asserted.
Mzwinila said that if he was a civil servant, he would be at least a Permanent Secretary. “I am a qualified economist and psychologist and if I was working for government, I would be the highest paid civil servant because I would be having seventy per cent scarce skill allowance for psychology and economics,” he contended. He said the days when being an MP was regarded as volunteerism were long gone by.
An ordinary MP earns a basic monthly salary of P22 000, constituency allowance worth P7 500 per month, P2 000 hospitality allowance, P2 000 for telephone bills and sitting allowance of P320 per day. MPs are also given free housing and free tablets.
MPS MUST BE PAID MORE THAN PERMANENT SECRETARIES – LELATISITSWE
Setlhomo Lelatisitswe of Boteti East said none of the legislators is satisfied with their conditions of service. He said even though an MP is a high profile person in the society he earns less than the Deputy Permanent Secretary and Managing Directors of parastatals.
“I don’t care what people will say, being an MP is more of sitting in a board of directors because we craft laws to be implemented by civil servants but they earn more than us and to me that is totally unacceptable,” he avowed.
Lelatisitswe said it was disheartening that his constituents expect him to sponsor events such as prize giving at schools yet he is paid peanuts. Lelatisitswe suggested that an MP’s salary should we at par with that of a high court judge.
Lelatisitswe is to table a motion in Parliament requesting government to provide legislators with executive types of vehicle and a driver.
Sharing the same sentiments was Ramotswa legislator, Samuel Rantuana who complained that they had too much workload yet they are poorly paid. He lamented that they are not equipped with professionals at their constituency offices yet they are expected to have vast knowledge about lots of issues including budget and labour issues.
He also said they fund democracy due to lack of political party funding. Rantuana said each month on top of his low salary; he has to pay monthly subscriptions of P800 to his party, opposition Botswana Congress Party, in order to rescue it from bankruptcy.
“The free housing provided for us is not habitable as we can go for days without water. Some of us are still battling to pay debts we incurred during the 2014 general election campaign,” he charged.
Rantuana said Parliament does not have incentives to attract people who possess different skills and expertise hence politics will forever remain a hobby that the youth may difficult to join.
PAY POLITICIANS MORE TO AVOID CORRUPTION – GUMA
Another law maker, Samson Moyo Guma told this publication that being a Parliamentarian is a very sensitive job as they are custodians of the country’s assets.
“We were supposed to declare our assets first before being in charge of the public purse because failure to do so will lead to temptation for corruption. It is so unfortunate that Parliament rejected a motion on the declaration of assets,” he said.
Guma observed that there was no job security for an MP explaining that the public should not expect a lot from them because if the government decides to pay them peanuts, in return people will get junk.
“It is not wrong for us to advocate for our welfare, my colleagues have told me that they will lose elections should they table a motion concerning their conditions of service. A Minister is responsible for his ministry’s budget including projects worth million of Pula yet he is paid less than P50 000, does that make sense?” he asked rhetorically.
Guma, who doubles as a businessman made a shocking revelation that ever since he was elected MP in 2004, he has donated his salary to his constituents. He called on the government to pay councillors and legislators adequately and advised that the privileges extended to former presidents should be extended to former legislators and councillors.
Meanwhile, another outspoken legislator who spoke on condition of anonymity said he will table a motion in Parliament requesting government to come up with a comprehensive package for legislators and increase basic salaries of councillors to at least P17 000 per month.
However the Chairman of rights and privileges of MPs committee, Haskins Nkaigwa said he is yet to present a recommendation to the minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration on how the conditions of service for legislators can be improved. This publication understands that Nkaigwa went for a benchmarking exercise on welfare of MPs at Uganda, Kenya and South Africa.
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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.”
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Masisi saddened by deaths of elephant attacks
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed a strong worry over elephants killing people in Botswana. When speaking in Virginia this week, Masisi said it is unfortunate that Batswana have paid a price with their own blood through being attacked by elephants.
“Communities also suffer unimaginable economic losses yearly when their crops are eaten by the elephants. In spite of such incidents of human-elephant conflict, our people embrace living together with the animals. They fully understand wildlife conservation and its economic benefits in tourism.”
In 2018, Nthobogang Samokwase’s father was attacked by an elephant when travelling from the fields, where he stayed during the cropping season.
It was reported that the man couldn’t run because of his age. He was found trampled by the elephant and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
In the same year, in Maun, a 57-year-old British woman was attacked by an elephant at Boro and died upon arrival at the hospital. The woman was with her Motswana partner, and were walking dogs in the evening.
Last month, a Durban woman named Carly Marshall survived an elephant attack while on holiday in the bush in Botswana. She was stabbed by one of the elephant’s tucks through the chest and was left with bruises. Marshall also suffered several fractured ribs from the ordeal.
President Masisi Botswana has the largest population of African elephants in the world, totaling more than 130 000. “This has been possible due to progressive conservation policies, partnerships with the communities, and investment in wildlife management programmes.”
In order to benefit further from wildlife, Masisi indicated that government has re-introduced controlled hunting in 2019 after a four-year pause. “The re-introduction of hunting was done in an open, transparent and democratic way, giving the communities an opportunity to air their views. The funds from the sale of hunting quota goes towards community development and elephant conservation.”
He stressed that for conservation to succeed, the local people must be involved and derive benefits from the natural resources within their localities.
“There must be open and transparent consultations which involve all sectors of the society. It is against this backdrop that as a country, we lead the continent on merging conservation, democracy and sustainable development.”
Masisi stated that Botswana is open to collaborative opportunities, “particularly with identifiable partners such as Virginia Tech, in other essential areas such as conservation, and the study of the interplay among the ecology of diseases of wild animals and plants, and their effects on human health and socio-economic development.”
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Gov’t commit to injecting more funds in fighting HIV
Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng says government will continue to make resources available in terms of financial allocations and human capital to ensure that Botswana achieves the ideal of eradicating HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Morwaeng was speaking this morning in Gaborone at the High-Level Advocacy event to accelerate HIV Prevention in Botswana. He said the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAPHA), in partnership with UNAIDS, UN agencies, the Global Fund and PEPFAR, have started a process of developing transition readiness plan for sustainability of HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
“It is important for us, as a country that has had a fair share of donor support in the response to an epidemic such as HIV and AIDS, to look beyond the period when the level of assistance would have reduced, or ceased, thus calling for domestic financing for all areas which were on donor support.”
Morwaeng said this is important as the such a plan will guarantee that all the gains accrued from the response with donor support will be sustained until the end when “we reach the elimination of HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 20230,” he said.
“I commit to continue support efforts towards strengthened HIV prevention, accentuating HIV primary prevention and treatment as prevention towards Zero New Infections, Zero Stigma, Discrimination and Zero AIDS related death, to end AIDS in Botswana.”
He reiterated that government commits to tackle legislative, policy and programming challenges that act as barriers to the achievement of the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
In the financial year 2022/2023, a total of 119 Civil Society Organizations, including Faith Based Organizations, were contracted with an amount of P100 million to implement HIV and NCDs prevention activities throughout the country, and the money was drawn from the Consolidated Fund.
Through an upcoming HIV Prevention Symposium, technical stakeholders will use outcomes to develop the Botswana HIV Prevention Acceleration Road Map for 2023-2025.
Morwaeng stated that government will support and ensure that Botswana plays its part achieving the road map. He said there is need to put hands on the deck to ensure that Botswana sustains progress made so far in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
“There are tremendous achievements thus far to, reach and surpass the UNAIDS fast track targets of 95%- 95%- 95% by the year 2025. As reflected by the BAIS preliminary results of 2021, we now stand at 95- 98- 98 against the set targets.”
“These achievements challenge us to now shift our gears and strive to know who are the remaining 5% for those aware of their HIV status, 2% of enrolment on treatment by those aware of their status and 2% of viral suppression by those on treatment.”
Explaining this further, Morwaeng said shift in gears should extend to coming up with robust strategies of determining where these remaining people are as well as how they will be reached with the necessary services.
“These are just some of the many variables that are required to ensure that as a country, we are well positioned to reaching the last mile of our country’s response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.”