Poverty eradication is a wild dream - Raletobana

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Tuesday November 30, 2010 00:00

 

Commenting on President Ian Khama's State of the Nation Address yesterday, the MP said no country in the world has eradicated poverty, hence it is ill-advised for government to dream the impossible.

Choosing his words carefully, he said that government should first attempt to reduce poverty rather than engaging in a too ambitious a project with an unachievable goals. He urged government to review existing poverty alleviation programmes and make amendments where necessary.

The legislator said that the proposed constitutional review should be approached with sober and neutral minds instead of the current accusations and counter-accusations between the opposing camps. He said that the best way is to consult the nation and go for a referendum. Raletobana argued that constitutional reviews in the past attracted scrutiny but ultimately, the people accepted the results. He cited the reduction of voting age from 21 years to 18 years and the establishment of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as examples.

The MP said he has a serious problem with automatic succession because it is not fair to the electorate. He likened it to a situation where an outgoing president unfairly imposes his preferred successor on the electorate. He called for funding of political parties saying this is the trend in almost every country in Southern Africa. He said presently, it is the politicians who fund democracy in Botswana and this is why they become poor once they leave politics.

Raletobana said that Botswana should relax its immigration laws and benefit from illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe who could be utilised in food production for the country. He said government wastes money in repatriating illegal immigrants to Zimbabwe only for them to be back in the country, illegally, a few days after their deportation. He said it is surprising that with such vast land, Batswana are complaining about land shortage with thousands of applicants in the waiting list for over five years. He said the Chinese have invaded the country, grabbing all businesses including river-sand hauling, sale of fat cakes and potato chips and tuckshops.