Defence ministry budget allocation measly
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday February 22, 2022 06:00
He made the remarks when responding to the 2022-2023 budget speech. Mmusi said for years the Botswana Police Service (BPS) has been hampered by a shortage of resources thus hindering their efforts to serve and protect Batswana. The defence ministry has been allocated the proposed ministerial recurrent budget amounting to P8.53 billion.
Mmusi stated that crime, in general, is spiralling out of control but the ministry’s allocated budget is low to cater for police service needs. He added that police presence and visibility are key to crime fighting. Moreover, Mmusi revealed that there is a serious public outcry over the construction of police stations in many villages countrywide. “The budget is very low and the ministry will not be able to finance new projects, which a number of them were deferred for years. With this low budget, we will only be focussing on completion of ongoing projects and maintenance,” he said.
However, Mmusi said he is at least pleased the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Peggy Serame mentioned some projects will be carried out through Public Private Partnership (PPP) funding hence pleading for the defence ministry’s projects to be catered for as well. Mmusi said a majority of BPS projects, especially the construction of police stations, have been pending for years something that Batswana are not pleased with as they are tormented by escalating criminal activities. “Members of Parliament are worried about pending police stations and police posts projects in their constituencies as they can go a long way in reducing crime.
I am pleading for these projects to be constructed through PPP funding because there is a need to address their housing problems,” he said. Furthermore, Mmusi revealed that the BPS together with Botswana Defence Force are currently experiencing an extreme shortage of accommodation but the ministry’s low budget will not be able to cater for the construction of accommodation this financial year. Mmusi pleaded with the Finance minister to also consider police and army’s housing through PPP funding. Meanwhile, the Defence minister applauded the army for their deployment in Mozambique meant to promote stability in the region.