Members of Parliament have supported a Motion by Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng to have a Bill that seeks to increase their salaries and those for Members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi, judicial service and specified officers by 4 and 5 percent.

The increase is for 2021/22 and 2022/23 financial years respectively.

Morwaeng said the four (4) Bill be heard as a matter of urgency in accordance with Standing Order No. 72.3. He said the Bill has not matured as it was only published in the Government Gazette on the 5th of August, 2022.

“Parliament will conclude its business on the 19th of August 2022, if we are to wait for the Bill to mature, the proposed amendments will only be tabled and considered by this House in the next sitting of Parliament which will be in November 2022,” he said Tuesday this week.

According to Morwaeng the object of the Bill is to amend the National Assembly Salaries and Allowances Act to effect the salaries and allowances of Members of the National Assembly by 4 percent for the financial year 2021/2022 and by 5 percent for the financial year 2022/2023.

Government is proposing that Members of the National Assembly be awarded an inflationary adjustment for the financial year 2021/2022 of 4 per cent and for the financial year 2022/2023 of 5 per cent respectively.

The minister told Parliament that the adjustment is meant to cushion the effects of the rising cost of living that all Batswana are experiencing in which Members of Parliament are not immune.

“In addition, it is worth noting that the last salary adjustment for Members of the National Assembly was in 2019 and surely we can all agree that the cost of living has significantly gone up between 2019 and now”, he added.

Regarding the Bill for Specified Officers, Morwaeng said it is worth noting that the bearers of the Specified Offices are in office and doing the job currently.

"It is our view that the dispensation that was given to other public officers be extended to them," Morwaeng said, adding that the Delimitation Commission has already started its work and it is only right that “we normalise payment of their allowance”.

Therefore, he said the object of the Bill is to effect the 5 per cent increase in salaries of Specified Offices with effect from the 1st April, 2022 and to increase the Duty Allowance of the Chairperson and Members of the Delimitation Commission.

“I strongly believe it is the right thing for Parliament to consider and approve this Bill during this session of Parliament and not wait for the Bill to be tabled,” said Morwaeng, who is also MP for Molepolole South.