Masisi against CEE law

GOTHATAONE MOENG
Staff Writer | Thursday August 9, 2012 00:00

 

Debating the adoption of the Citizen Economic Empowerment (CEE) Policy in Parliament yesterday, Masisi said Botswana has an open market economic system, arguing that there is no need to start controlling the system by way of law.

He said the economy should be allowed to operate 'dynamically', adding that even in the policy before the House, there are preferential thresholds for citizens. He said being against the establishment of CEE legislation is not to suggest that citizens should not be nurtured.

 'If you resort to a law, it means every time there is a problem, you have to go the way of litigation,' he said.

Legislators such as Nehemiah Modubule and Philip Makgalemele have urged for a law, instead of a policy, arguing that a law would be more effective than a policy in ensuring that indigenous Batswana are economically empowered. They argued that there are no steps to be taken against people who go against the policy.

Masisi joined MPs who have condemned the land situation in Botswana where it is difficult for citizens to access land. 'We need to develop a more dynamic concept of what land is. It's finite. It has a value, forget about whether the law says we can sell it.  Let's not suggest that there is some utopian idea of what land is,' he said.Masisi decried that non-Batswana own the most valuable land in the country. He said that Batswana need to start unashamedly protecting their land.

Masisi said he was happy to see that some sections in the policy seek to nurture a strong national identity. He said Batswana should start talking positively about themselves, and not paint each other with the same negative connotations.

'It's worrying when non-Batswana listen to us chastising each other,' he said. He appealed to opposition MPs to subscribe to the notion of a national identity. 'There is some part where we will always meet as Batswana. I want us to find it, and cling to it, let us find that area where there is commonality,' he said.

For his part, Kweneng East MP Mmoloki Raletobana called for political will in citizen economic empowerment. He said the lack of political will has ensured that even MPs, who need to sell the policy and empower citizens, are themselves not economically empowered.

The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Kenneth Matambo, tabled the motion last week.Meanwhile, the House adopted the policy last night.