Rushed Gov't Bills worry MPs
Members of Parliament have expressed concern at the rate at which Parliament had to pass government Bills on urgency without relevant stakeholders being consulted.
In the just-ended Winter Session, most government Bills were brought on urgency, and ministers requested that they be proceeded with forthwith before Parliament goes for recess. Bills are expected to take a 30-day period for maturity before Parliament can debate and pass them.
Ministers told Parliament that the Bills had to be brought on urgency because Parliament was going on recess and it would be unjust to wait for the November session.
Leader of Opposition, Dithapelo Keorapetse said what the government of the day is doing is very unfortunate. He said it is wrong for ministers to just sit and not act promptly when they know that the Bills have to come to
Parliament for consideration.
According to Keorapetse, this is a clear indication that government is on autopilot. Keorapetse who is also MP for Selibe-Phikwe West argued that critical stakeholders who are directly and indirectly affected by these pieces of legislation have not been taken on board. He said the opposition are not against the Bills but are worried at the manner in which they are brought to parliament.
Maun West MP, Dumelang Saleshando argued that the last two weeks of Parliament sitting had been dedicated to bringing government Bills on urgency. Saleshando noted that since the start of the winter session Parliament has been mostly dealing with questions and no government Bill.
“The Ministers just stood there. Now they come here and violate the foundation laid by those who came before us. People have to be consulted on these laws hence the 30 days maturity period. We use our Kgotla system to consult (the) electorate.
“Some of the Bills the minister as per their presentations have noted the loopholes even as far back as 2020. Now since that time, the minister comes to Parliament and wants to rush the passing of a Bill. This is very wrong. This is a confused government,” said Saleshando, who is also President of the Botswana Congress Party (BCP).
Wynter Mmolotsi, the MP for Francistown South said his constituents are always worried that he participates in passing Bills without having first taken their input onboard.
He argued that the notion that the ‘Botswana Speaks’ Platform will assist in information sharing cannot be applauded because some of the constituents across the country are not tech-savvy and will be disadvantaged.
He said there is a need to consult in all forms possible because the laws that MP are dealing with affect Batswana and they should be part of the process.
MP for Jwaneng-Mabutsane, Mephato Reatile expressed worry that the Bills are always rushed but when it comes to implementation nothing happens. He said when a Bill is brought on urgency a commencement date has to be announced. He said in most instances Bills are rushed and then later gather dust with no action.
“If you bring it on urgency let us know when it would be signed into law. This will also help us to explain these things to our electorate. What is happening is that we are always without answers when these questions are asked by the public when we address them.
“There is an issue of consultation which this government is failing. You do not want people to progress until their pension. What the BDP government is doing is not right. Just take what they did with Floor Crossing Bill among others, they pushed it on urgency and took forever to sign it into law,”, Reatile posited.
Parliament has debated and passed 18 government Bills and only one Private Members Bill was presented and rejected. The Private Members Bill was presented by Keorapetse and sought to amend the Corruption and Economic Crime Act.
Parliament received 309 questions where 178 were noticed and 170 answered while there are 139 remaining.