Chickens have come home to roost –Keorapetse
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday June 12, 2023 06:00
Speaking to Mmegi in an interview, Keorapetse revealed that most Parliamentary Committees cannot sit and perform their oversight duties as they cannot quorate.
“All the 24 Committees are BDP except three. For the first time in many years, the PAC couldn’t sit during the winter break to examine the books of accounts of government compiled by the Accountant General and Audited by the Auditor General.
It will attempt to sit during Winter Meeting, meaning that the few BDP MPs and one Opposition MP who is its chairman will be having double sittings for normal Parliament business and committee activities. This will detract them from the effectiveness and efficiency of the Committee,” he outlined.
Kerapetse, who was the PAC chairman the last meeting, disclosed that last year the BDP decided to remove all Opposition MPs from all Parliamentary Committees following a motion to dissolve committees and reconstitute them.
The Selebi-Phikwe West legislator said the idea was to remove Opposition MPs who chaired committees and to have the BDP as a majority in these bodies. “Obviously oversight cannot be realised in a situation where 14 BDP MPs want to be the majority in committees and chair these committees against 19 Opposition MPs.
The BDP backbenchers cannot vote against party caucus in which they’re 33.4% minority and the Executive is 66.6% majority and 46% of the whole House is Cabinet,” he further noted.
Keorapetse added that contrary to some assumptions that the non participation of the main Opposition Parties in committees is because of a boycott, the truth is that they were effectively kicked out of committees and have not boycotted. “We have not boycotted committees’ work; we were kicked out and made to choose between a watered down Executive controlled useless committee activities and being shown the door. We decided we can’t be used to participate in committees controlled at the BDP caucus.
We can’t own decisions of the BDP caucus as MPs and stamp them with committees’ stamp,” he emphaised. Keorapetse also stressed that the caucus can decide that certain witnesses should not be subpoenaed or that some evidence should not be presented or that certain matters shouldn’t be pursued by committees. He pointed out that they have in the past subpoenaed Ministers, PSP, judges, CEOs and even retired civil servants. “I don’t see this being possible with the BDP controlled committees.
If the backbench is in the majority and chairs most committees, they can easily vote against oversight measures or attempts. The BDP can’t oversee itself. When we resisted the flagrant violation of basic oversight principles, we were kicked out of the committees", he said.