Sona: Political Analysts Speak
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Monday November 9, 2020 14:05
He said Batswana mostly take keen interest in matters that impact their lives for better or worse.
“Our economy has gone down due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and it is important for the President to make promises to the people on strategies he has in place to revive it. For example, look at how major companies have been affected, employees losing jobs and the tourism sector having also gone down,” Machacha said.
“The government must inject money into the private sector so that companies can at least be stable and start creating jobs for Batswana. The unemployment rate has also gone up, which is very painful for our society. Many questions are supposed to be answered in the SONA.”
He added the President should be transparent to the nation on how COVID-19 has affected the country and how the funds were raised and used to tackle challenges and others the country is still facing.
University of Botswana senior lecturer in politics, Kebapetse Lotshwao said he believes the President is going to address the nation on how COVID-19 has affected the economy and what needs to be done to address the situation.
“The government should have strategies in place on how we can continue living while the virus is there. Lockdowns have affected our economy so badly and the main issue should be on how to address the situation going forward. I believe the government has been consulting with private, transport, mining, and tertiary sectors, to identify clues pertaining to the dire situation. If the situation is not going to be addressed then the unemployment rate will go even higher,” Lotshwao said.
Lotshwao added he believes that government would reveal its plan in order to revive the economy.