Kgathi must be impeached

Richard Moleofe | Friday May 27, 2016 10:09

The issue of appropriations towards the military and the intelligence has always been a wider problem not only in the US but the world over. These two institutions have always insisted on running their own budgets with public funds. We don’t often get to hear that with the Ministry of Education or Home Affairs and when moneys are used without appropriations by such government arms, it is often followed by severe consequences by either Parliament or Congress.

Reports that Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and Directorate of Intelligence and Security have run their own budgets outside of government appropriations does not come as any surprise. The two institutions have traditionally maintained a high level of secrecy in the way they use public funds. This is to a point that the same legislators who are responsible for releasing the funds find themselves in a blind spot.

The current blind spot that our Parliament finds itself at is explained by the fact that BDF can connive with arms suppliers to get loans from overseas financial institutions without the consent of the legislative body. This is clearly a violation of our own constitution and that must be followed by sanctions on all the affected security institutions.

For this reason, the Minister of Justice and Defence must be impeached. As the overall accounting authority, he must be questioned on why he allowed his officers to bypass Parliament to achieve their desired spending goals. And remember that this is Botswana, a country that has a docile Parliament that prefers to get instructions from the executive rather than make their own. The reason why some people have held Parliament at ransom is for their own ends.

While I was at BDF, other government departments were always mourning the unequal treatment and favouritism that the executive was giving to the military. They felt that BDF was better funded and well resourced. This is why civilians always want BDF to be in the lead when it comes to Civil and Military Cooperation. Their argument has always been that BDF will kick their resources into the project.

The problem is not only in this country. Like I said, this is a worldwide problem. The bottom line is; it is always easy to siphon money out of military and intelligence budgets. Starting with our neighbours, Fredrick Chiluba of Zambia was almost impeached for using government funds that were not appropriated through the right channels of parliamentary budget procedures. The impeachment process came to nought because he had followed the same unconstitutional processes that were used by Kenneth Kaunda. Kaunda had always had access to moneys in the intelligence coffers and never accounted for its use.

With the US it all goes back to the Vietnam War. At that time Congress would take decisions to stop the bombings and the executive would still carry on and allow the military to continue. If Congress directs the cessation of any campaign, they are in short suspending the appropriations to that particular war effort.

Another such example comes from the Iran-Contra Gate. The CIA was able to make dealings with the Sandinista Rebels for the procurement of arms without the knowledge of Congress and that was in total violation of the US constitution.

Such deals included drug and gun running by state agencies that raised moneys outside of the parameters of the law. This process helps to enrich a few individuals because as they say, they would not soil their hands for nothing. 

The military has a tendency of doing things in an undemocratic manner. History is littered with stories of the military running their own budget. What BDF is trying to achieve in running their own budget outside of that of government is nothing new. What comes to mind now is what happened in Chile with General Pinochet. The military had a grip in the economy of the country and they were taking major decisions on all budgetary matters and issues of spending.

The latest example is the country of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). The military has paved way for some sort of democracy in recent times.

The new constitution of the country still holds the military in high esteem. The military still has a defined role in the new government and that goes as far as having unfettered access to the national coffers.

For as long as our constitution does not give the military similar rights as in Chile and Myanmar, what is reported to be happening is purely criminal. Our law, like that of the United States does not allow any moneys to be drawn from the treasury without being appropriated by Congress or Parliament as is the case with us.

But the underlying problem is a docile Parliament. What the executive is well aware of is that the media will make a lot of noise on such an issue while Parliament has gone to sleep.

Minister Shaw Kgathi as a member of the executive responsible for issues of defence needs to be taken to task by Parliament on this matter. However, the fellow is the least concerned on what the consequences might be because of our Parliament that has gone to sleep.

In developed democracies where the rule of law takes precedence, Kgathi would not be let off the hook for such serious budgetary misdemeanours. The intrusion and manipulation of the budget by the military is as a result of a Parliament that is not interested in maintaining the rule of law. Parliament has absolute power to make sure that enforceable action is in place. The Auditor General can only alarm the legislative body to what is going on regarding finances.