BCPYL Rubbishes Dr Khama�s 2015 Sona
Correspondent | Monday November 16, 2015 15:00
It must be noted also that, HE has shown a slight veer off, on his way of presenting the never fulfilled promises. He has this time around, resorted to putting open-ended promises with no time-frame attached, something not very well his style of giving two weeks ultimatums. This new approach is nothing less than an abdication of accountability tactic by the Head of State. However, this does not come as a surprise as he seemingly has had enough of rhetoric questions about his previous unachieved promises.
The SONA 2015, is threadbare to say the least. There is absolutely no reference to the contents of the previous intents. The Nation remains in the dark with regards to the planned proposals, whether they materialised or not, achieved intended purposes or not, what measures are in place or to be put in place to resurrect any of the negative scenarios. E.g the programmes that have been rolled out before, Constituency Tournament, allowances for Premier League and First division players, Internship, Tirelo Sechaba, GVS etc. These do not appear on HE`s SONA. The Citizenry remains in the dark with regard to the value for their money.
Job creation
In his address, HE purports that his administration`s top priority is reduction of unemployment and underemployment. The contrary is true. The BDP-led government has deliberately orchestrated the crisis we find this Nation in. In fact, it has been their election tool.
The BCP has proposed to government, to enact a statutory instrument in the form of citizen economic empowerment law, which could protect and give structural support to the government programmes of affirmative action. The BDP remained adamant and rather opted for a Policy document, which has no legal jurisdiction and is prone to lapses and abuse. This is why we continue to see parastatals, local and foreign companies overlooking locally produced goods. We also observe with utter disparagement, business ventures which could be exclusively reserved for locals like restaurants, licensed to expatriates. These are some of the shortfalls of the policy document intended to prevent these realities.
HE further states that since its inception in 2010, the Economic Diversification Drive (EDD), cumulatively registered 1,425 enterprises. He by design, gives this irrational and soundless digit, with no evidence of monitoring and evaluation. This vindicates the observation that the BDP-led government has feeble programme monitoring aptitude and demised evaluation competence
BCP YL, concurs with HE that, Job Creation is inevitably linked to investment. In this respect, the rule of law, availability and accessibility of utilities forms the basis of investment, both local and foreign. It is our (BCP YL) honest view that, our Botswana takes two steps forward and four steps backwards. The deportation of foreign nationals disregard for the rule of law, No water No Power situation and stiff Immigration laws, defeats foreign investment endeavours. Therefore, job creation efforts under these circumstances and the business- as-usual approach of the BDP is just an illusion and disqualifies reduction of unemployment and underemployment objective as top priority item in President Dr Khama administration.
Aldrine Pako Madigele
Information and Publicity Secretary BCP YL