UDC wants 70 percent of Development budget for citizen empowerment
Leader of Opposition (LOO) and Member of Parliament for Selibe Phikwe West, Dithapelo Keorapetse says it would be obscenely embarrassing if foreigners buy the remaining BCL assets such as laboratory, workshops, dumps and tailings, houses, machinery and equipment and even the shafts.
Giving his response to the 2023/2024 Budget Speech under the theme ‘The Alternative: A guide to building an economy that works for all’ and talking under citizen empowerment, the legislator representing Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), suggested that there are Batswana who are capable of buying and commercially utilising the assets.
He said UDC suggests that 70 percent of the P21 billion development budget must go to citizen owned companies and the remaining can be shared by joint ventures and foreigners.
Further that 70 percent of procured goods and services should be from Batswana or through citizen owned companies and that there is need to raise the threshold.
Under the Household Relief, he said Batswana are in huge debt- they are indebted to micro lenders, pawnshops and other financial institutions such as banks.
According to Household Indebtedness Survey Report of 2020/2021 by Bank of Botswana, combined with arrears, household debt was P59. 2 billion, translating into 30.3 percent of GDP.
Parliament was earlier told in an answer to a question that since the closure on BCL mine, 227 Batswana were put under civil imprisonment for failure to pay debts. He said 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.
"Batswana are drowning in debts because of relative poverty, slave wages and unemployment and underemployment. They buy basic needs and services with borrowed money.
“Predatory and unethical lending has become a major problem in our financial sector. There is no price regulation on interest, which can go up to 30 percent plus a month."
Government take home policy is such that P1500 married P1300 single and P600 for industrial class cadre. Micro lenders don’t care about Debt service ratio of 40 percent net.
UDC suggests tough legislation on Credit Control to avert predatory lending of unregulated, irrational and extortionist interest rates resulting in cyclical debt.
The Umbrella proposes tightening of screws by the Finance Ministry, Bank of Botswana and NBFIRA on predatory lending by taking note of the proliferation of lenders.
"We have too many micro lenders for a small population like this one. NBFIRA doesn’t have capacity to police micro-lenders.
UDC suggest serious infusion of financial literacy, the possession of the set of skills and knowledgethat allows an individual to make informed and effective decisions with all of their financial resources, at elementary schools and throughout the learning process up to tertiary.
“We need to assist Batswana to reengineer their relationship with money”.
He said they have started a policy debate in the UDC Policy Directorate to explore the idea or possibility of a government entity buying a significant portion of this huge public debt so as to extend some form of relief to Batswana drowning in debt. “Part of the solution lies in adoption of a living wage policy," he said.
On Living Wage and Old Age Pension Keorapetse said a decent living wage is part of the policy discourse on inclusion, poverty eradication and bridging huge inequality.
Currently, Botswana ranks number 10 on Top 10 countries with the highest wealth and income inequalities by World Bank. He suggests that nothing about living wage policy suggests fiscal recklessness.
He argues that comparable economies in the region such as South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia and Seychelles appreciate their senior citizens more than Botswana through their monthly old age pension.
"We suggest living wage as a guiding principle to determine monthly wages. Living wage in Botswana according to Wage indicator for single adult is P4650 to P5760 and for a typical family P5070 to P7150.
“It is unacceptable to the UDC that a government cleaner or messenger at A3 Scale is paid P2 559 whereas a Permanent Secretary to the President is paid at PSP Scale of P88 473, that is 34 times more”.
Concerning Civil Aviation, Keorapetse said year in year out, UDC advises this government in and outside the House on how civil aviation can help diversify this economy into a big services economy and generate job.
UDC has advised and it is worth repeating that there is need to formulate a policy that allows for small domestic carriers to enter the market. He believes that CAAB needs to draft measures such a reduced landing, parking and navigation fees for small carriers.
Carriers that seek to utilise underutilised airports like Selebi-Phikwe, Ghanzi, Francistown, must be incentivised by offering them reduced passenger taxes, navigation fees, landing fees, among others, as it is the case with budget airlines like Easy Jet, Ryan Air Mango, Kulula, FlySafair, among others. He suggests that government through CAAB should genuinely liberalise the market and walk the talk on this matter, “CAAB should stop hindering new private carriers to operate on certain routes as a way to protect the AIR BOTSWANA near-monopoly.
“CAAB should also build an airstrip or airport in Letlhakane/Orapa to allow new carries to operate Gaborone to Letlhakane/Orapa area which has some of the best paid employees in the country working in the mines, with a lot of disposable income. It cannot be that it remains only accessible through private air strips."
Keorapetse said Botswana is a signatory of the 1999 Yamoussoukro Decision that seeks to bring into effect a Single African Air Transport Market. The purpose of the SAATM is to liberalise the aviation market in Africa by lifting restrictions to market access for airlines, grant extended air traffic rights, and eliminate levies and taxes on foreign African operators.
That is what each party to the agreement is supposed to be doing through enactment of civil aviation legislation in line with the Yamoussoukro decision!
“Sadly the BDP government has not passed any legislation in line with the Yamousskro decision from 1999 to date. To show lack of willingness we are not even party to pilot implementation project.
“UDC suggests that the minister in charge of CAAB should be pushing for amendment to the civil aviation act and related legislation to bring it in line with Yamousskro decision."