Public assets looted
Correspondent | Friday November 25, 2016 16:06
Those connected to government would then make requests for special allocations with a view to rehabilitate the land. It is this kind of fraud that appears to have escalated to other sectors of the economy. Today public enterprises are deliberately destroyed only to be taken over by multinational corporations handpicked by the government. The BCL is a clear case in point. Otherwise why would a normal government allow management of a state owned company to bring a profitable venture with huge savings to its knees in no time without timely and appropriate interventions?
Most of the state enterprises are run down on account of corruption, mismanagement, and misguided political interference. Elementary rules of governance are not followed. As a result a number of the parastatals are barely surviving. Naturally an animal in that situation attracts vultures that would be hovering around and taking positions to pounce on the carcass. As the public enterprises struggle to survive multi-national corporations and local parasitic capitalists are reading themselves to inherit that which they are not entitled to. There is massive looting of public enterprises that is taking place under the current regime. Deception, absence of consultation, and lack of transparency are at the centre of the mode of operation. Decisions on public assets disposal are mainly driven by greed. In Botswana today the interest of the ruling class has become synonymous with national interest. As comrade Kenny Kapinga correctly put it, the insecurity of the political leadership is treated as national insecurity.
Originally government policy was to privatise public intersperses such as Air Botswana, Botswana Telecommunications Corporation etc. Whether it is called privatization or liberalisation the ultimate goal is the same and the consequences are well documented. Both are driven by exploitation and profit maximisation. The ultimate result is massive job losses, unemployment and poverty. Under these circumstances the idea that poverty, income inequalities and unemployment can be significantly reduced is a pipe dream.
When the policy was mooted the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) was against privatisation in word and in action. Part of the reason was that given the level of development characterised by a small middle class any form of privatisation would land public assets in the hands of multinational corporation triggering unprecedented capital flight. The justification for privatisation was unconvincing either. Countries emerging from conflicts implement privatisation to raise government revenue. The position of the BCP should not be misinterpreted to mean that we are against private ownership of the means of production.
In the privatisation debate there are insinuations that private ownership is a panacea for inefficiency and mismanagement. It is a position that is consistently advanced by some business sections in relation to the current failure of parastatals. Hence there is frequent talk of private sector led economic development. As a country that is in a developmental stage the state should play a central role in the economy. It is a well-accepted fact that the state interventionist approaches propelled countries like Singapore and China to global economic power houses never imagined before. Today Chinese state owned companies dominate the construction industry in Botswana.
To suggest that BCL and other state owned companies fail because they are not privately owned is disingenuous. Privately owned mining companies failed before BCL was placed under provisional liquidation resulting in hundreds job losses. These include Lerala, Boseto and African Copper. Let us not forget that the recent global recession was triggered by the weaknesses of the highly glorified capitalist system. Greedy banks had dished out credits and loans to people who could not afford to service the loans. Inflation escalated making it harder for people to pay back the loans thus creating an economic meltdown. In the United States of America the state had to intervene to rescue the failed profit driven system from total collapse.
Mismanagement and inefficiency would lead to the collapse of any entity regardless of private or public ownership. The change of management not the fall in commodity prices, depth of the mine or the quality of metals is the main reason for the collapse of BCL. This can be extended to other parastatal bodies such as the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), Water Utilities Corporation (WUC), Botswana Railways (BR), Air Botswana etc. It would appear that these entities were set to fail with the sole intention of taking them over under the pretext that they are unprofitable.
Apparently the greedy profit driven sections of the ruling class is inpatient with the policy of privatisation which they find cumbersome. They have since adopted a quick sale of public enterprises to themselves and their friends for a thebe. Under the circumstances kickbacks cannot be ruled out. Government is virtually for sale to the highest bidder. In the case of the sale of Morupule B there are several companies that are reported to have declared interest. On the other hand there are claims that government has handpicked Chinese Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC) and has put up a team of public servants to negotiate on their behalf.
If it is true that Morupule B and BCL are basket cases one wonders why there is such a rush by multi-national corporations and local parasitic business linked to the ruling party to buy them. Media reports that a nephew of President Ian Khama is vying for Maibwe diamond mine inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) is scary to say the least. This is because it is widely believed that the nephew does business on behalf of the President. I smell a big rotten rat.
*Kesitegile Gobotswang (PhD)
is the deputy leader, BCP