You are hypocrites - MP Pule tells UDC govt
Member of Parliament for Kgatleng East, Mabuse Pule, has welcomed the initiative to import Girolando cattle from Brazil and the promise of skills transfer to local farmers.
However, he reminded Parliament that when the previous BDP Government procured breeding cattle from America under a similar vision of improving “our national herd, the very same voices, in today’s administration, were strongly opposed.”
Pule hopes therefore, that this renewed effort will not be mere politics but a journey committed to strengthening the livestock sector. The MP expressed his deep concern that even as the ploughing season is here, many of the agricultural support programmes initiated under the BDP including input subsidies and mechanisation schemes have been halted or delayed.
“Our farmers cannot wait as food security depends on timely action not promises. I strongly recommend that Government establishes a national livestock genetic improvement and climate resilient centre,” Pule said when debating the State of the Nation Address in Parliament.
He stated that a partnership between Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) and private breeders to coordinate all breed importation, research and farmer training is needed.
Evidence from regional model such as Namibia’s Livestock Breeding Centre and South Africa’s Agricultural Research Council shows that such institutions reduce dependence on imports, improve herd productivity and build long term national capacity.
“Let us adopt this evidence-based approach to secure Botswana’s livestock future sustainability,” he said, adding that land is not just an administrative issue.
He contended that the BDP set clear targets through the 100, 000 plots initiative to reduce the backlog in land allocation.
“I hope that SONA would outline a national solution that accelerates allocation, restores confidence in land governance and ensures that every Motswana’s right to land is protected and respected,” Pule remarked.
As for the youth, he said there are young people who are not working, but while BETP promises 512, 000 jobs in the next decade, the question should be what kind of jobs, for who and at what pace.
Pule contended that Botswana’s unemployment crisis remains structural. “Over 60 per cent of the unemployed most of them poses qualification mismatch, despite decades of reform, our education system continues to produce graduates trained to seek employment, not to create it.”
Pule stated that the challenges are not a shortage of plans but a shortage of execution that connects learning to labour markets. He posited that the skills for industry programme and Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) reforms highlighted in the SONA are welcome because it is exactly what BDP 2024 Manifesto advanced on.
“I agree with the fact that the Government must also prioritise digital skills acceleration. Coding, data analytics, renewable energy technology and agrictech because Botswana’s next generation will compete not only with Gaborone or Francistown, but with Nairobi, Cape Town, Pretoria and the world at large.
If we were serious about transformation, job creation must be anchored on letting every Pula spent on training, translating into employability and even public projects produce, skilled not just completed structures.”