Outrage grows over plans for more MPs, ministers
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday February 10, 2016 18:00
Last Friday’s Government Gazette indicates plans for two more ministers, two more assistant ministers and two more specially elected MPs. This means that the government would then have 18 ministers, 10 assistant ministers and six specially elected MPs. Botswana will then have 59 lawmakers.
Presidential affairs and public administration minister Eric Molale said the idea was to break down ministries whose sizes were too wide, create new ministries for priority areas and cater for an increasingly complex, modern and growing economy.
Prominent political analyst, Leonard Sesa, slammed the plans as a desperate move by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to tighten its grip on the arms of government.
Sesa said Batswana needed to be consulted and convinced that there was need for the proposed adjustments.
“There is need to introspect the current ministries,” he said. “We have ministries such as that of Lands and Housing where one minister is doing a good job and we really need to look and see which ministries need to be split and convince Batswana.” He said it was surprising that the delimitation exercise done before the general elections in 2014 had not recommended any increase in constituencies, which would justify the current effort to increase number of ministers and assistant ministers. Sesa said the ruling party was out to reward its faithfuls and resolve inner-party strife, through the creation of more specially elected MPs.
“It’s unfair that at the moment three quarters of Specially Elected MPs were rejected by voters but are still sitting in Parliament,” he said. Botswana Congress Party (BCP) legislator and spokesperson, Dithapelo Keorapetse, said the BDP was moving with “consummate guile to dispense patronage to its operatives and establishment loyalists” through the latest changes. He said: “Batswana are faced with numerous problems which have nothing to do with parliament or cabinet size. A lot of money is going to be used to pay six people in the new positions, which could have been put to good use.
“Where’s belt tightening? Where is the money to pay over 100 nominated councillors, six specially elected MPs and four additional ministers coming from?” Keorapetse said the move was also undemocratic as it diluted the voice of the opposition and the backbench in parliament.
He said the executive overwhelmingly dominated parliament and this further substantiated fears that the country’s democracy is regressing.
He added: “The executive currently stands at over 40 percent of Parliament and the new dispensation will not help the situation. More than 52 percent of Batswana did not prefer the BDP at 2014 polls and it’s wrong for it to have an overly amplified presence in parliament, against the will of the people.
“I also don’t understand why it’s important to increase the number of specially elected MPs and ministers when President Ian Khama has been running government for about eight years? Why does he see it fit to make these fundamental changes about two years before he retires as president.”
The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) legislator, Phenyo Butale, said the move by government reeked of self-interest.
Butale said the UDC called for the division of some ministries such as education and skills development but the action of the ruling party was desperation.
“This is not meant to benefit Batswana, but themselves,” he said. “The timing is grossly wrong. We have a P4 billion deficit which is projected to grow to P6 billion but we are increasing our expenditure.”
The Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPUSU) yesterday evening released a statement condemning government’s plans, calling them an affront to civil servants struggling with static wages.