A thirst for truth and accountability

The Monitor Editor | Thursday June 5, 2025 12:18

The revelation that a P1.5 billion promise of clean water was made with no budget to deliver it, is utterly unacceptable. This wasn't just an administrative error. The timing – ahead of the 2024 General Election – screams of a desperate attempt by the former Botswana Democratic Party government to buy votes with empty promises.

They dangled the carrot in the form of promising the lifeline of water before communities enduring 'days of dry taps' knowing well government coffers couldn’t support it. This is a profound betrayal of trust.

Now, the current Umbrella for Democratic Change government, inheriting this poisoned chalice, finds itself scrambling to cancel the tender through the Court of Appeal, pleading poverty.

Whilst their financial woes might be real, it doesn't absolve the original sin.

The legal wrangling adds another layer of farce and waste. Millions of pula are likely being spent on lawyers as the government battles TAWANA JV in court.

This is a consortium a High Court judge felt compelled to award the tender due to perceived bias in the ministry’s earlier handling favouring Chinese firms.

Justice Zein Kebonang rightly questioned how a government could award a tender it couldn’t pay for, yet here we are. The fact that the Chinese contractors were granted appeal rights whilst the government wasn’t further highlights the chaotic and questionable nature of the initial award process under the former permanent secretary.

The Ministry of Water and Human Settlements Permanent Secretary’s, Bonolo Khumotaka, stark admission to the Public Accounts Committee lays bare the grim reality: 'There is no money.'

Her warning that proceeding would land the government in trouble, facing huge interest payments, is sensible now. But where was this prudence when the tender was first signed?

Her claim that the ministry is solely concerned about funds rings hollow when the initial award reeked of potential bias and the current legal fight consumes resources desperately needed elsewhere.

The people of Charleshill and Kgalagadi North are the true victims. Their hope for a basic human necessity – clean water – was cruelly exploited for political gain. Now, they remain thirsty, caught in the crossfire of a mess not of their making.

This scandal demands more than legal manoeuvres. It demands a full, transparent inquiry into how such an unfunded, politically motivated tender was ever approved.

It demands accountability for those who made promises they knew couldn't be kept. And it demands a fundamental change in how major projects are commissioned – ensuring rigorous budgeting and scrupulous fairness come before political expediency.

Botswana’s citizens deserve water, not empty promises and costly courtroom dramas. They deserve a government that plans responsibly and honours its word. This fiasco shows a desperate thirst for both.