Gov't suppliers owed P3.6bn
Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday March 25, 2026 06:41
Answering a question in Parliament from Molepolole North MP Arafat Khan, the Minister of Environment & Tourism, Wynter Mmolotsi, answering on behalf of the Minister of Finance, said the government had failed to meet its statutory payment turnaround of 10 working days due to “liquidity constraints and cash-flow pressures”.
“Government is currently facing challenges in meeting this standard. This is not due to administrative lapses, but rather to prevailing liquidity constraints and cash-flow pressures,” the minister said.
Mmolotsi explained that as of March 11, 2026, outstanding payment instructions stood at P3,644,271,399.31 owed to 6,614 suppliers, and of this amount, P2.96 billion is owed within zero to 30 days to 6,566 suppliers, whilst P676.3 million has been outstanding for between 31 and 90 days, affecting 48 suppliers.
The minister said the figures only reflect payment instructions already submitted to the Ministry of Finance and do not include delays at the ministry and department level, where invoices are first processed.
“Because invoice submission is not automated, there are instances where significant delays occur before an invoice is captured in the system,” Mmolotsi said. He pointed out that an additional 1,470 invoices worth about P991.4 million are still sitting with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) and have not yet been submitted for payment.
However, the minister said the government has instructed MDAs to submit all outstanding invoices before the end of March, marking the close of the 2025/2026 financial year.
He said the current delays have forced the government to abandon its usual 'first-in, first-out' payment system and instead prioritise payments based on available cash and that to manage the situation, the government has introduced strict cost-control measures, including suspending non-essential spending and tightening approval processes for new procurement.
“Every pula spent is now rigorously scrutinised to ensure it fulfils a statutory obligation or supports a critical frontline service,” Mmolotsi said.
Reportedly, under new controls, ministries cannot issue Government Purchase Orders without approval from the Ministry of Finance confirming that funds are available and that the Office of the Accountant-General is also now tracking government cash balances daily instead of relying on monthly reports.
The minister highlighted that despite the scale of the debt, the ministry said it could not provide a breakdown of Value Added Tax (VAT) linked to the unpaid invoices. “It is not possible to provide the total VAT charged on outstanding invoices,” the minister said, explaining that payments are made VAT-inclusive and suppliers are responsible for remitting the tax.
He added that the government also does not have accurate data on how much VAT has been collected from suppliers tied to these transactions.
“I am currently unable to provide a high degree of accuracy on the amount of VAT actually received from suppliers,” Mmolotsi said.
He said plans are underway to integrate government payment systems with the Botswana Unified Revenue Service to improve tax tracking and compliance in future.
The minister also declined to release a detailed list of suppliers owed money, citing legal and confidentiality concerns. “Disclosing specific payment histories and outstanding balances of individual businesses in a public forum could infringe upon their right to privacy and potentially prejudice their competitive positions,” he said.
Mmolotsi acknowledged that delayed payments are affecting businesses, warning that the situation could have serious consequences. “I am acutely aware that delayed payments strain business liquidity and, in severe cases, may lead to company closures. This is an unacceptable situation,” he said.
The Ministry of Finance has committed to clearing the P3.6 billion owed to suppliers by the second week of April 2026, and the Minister said this plan depends on expected revenue inflows, including funds from the Southern African Customs Union and the start of the new financial year.