Of budget speech, opposition and leadership - Ntuane speaks [Part 1]
*BOTSALO NTUANE | Friday February 10, 2012 00:00
Before that my response to the 2010 state of the nation comprised 14,000 words and the Road to Denmark, being the 2011 response to the state of the nation came to 12,000 words.
The experience I have derived from all the presentations under reference is that the mass media on whom we depend for wider dissemination of these important documents select only a few issues for reportage.
Ultimately the public only receives the information filtered by the press, who often ignore a lot of the detail contained in the speeches. It is in light of this observation, and by way of enhancing greater accessibility and comprehension by the general public that the response to Budget 2012 will be arranged in abridged form as opposed to the lengthy prose, which accompanied past presentations. We hope in this way reportage will be easier and the general public will also be able to access a reader-friendly document which does not put them off by its length.
Following commotion that emanated from my response to the 2011 state of the nation, let me also indicate that this particular presentation does not represent the collective position of the three opposition parties represented in the national assembly.
It goes without saying that there are issues on which we find a lot of common ground, but there are others particularly on socio economic policies where our outlook is at slight variance.
Let it be noted that at this juncture there is no official common policy platform for the opposition parties and on this basis it is more practical for each of the three parties to deliver an individual response to Budget 2012.
As we are aware our coalition partner, the Botswana National Front (BNF) through its parliamentary leader spoke some two days ago. On this basis I will be speaking in my capacity as the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) parliamentary leader as well as Gaborone West South legislator.
This clarification is vital so as to avoid the confusion, and resultant controversy caused by my response to the state of the nation last November. It will be recalled that in response to Budget 2011, I advanced grounds why it is not possible for the opposition to present a credible alternative budget.
Until, as is practice in other countries, government and the international community, extend to us expertise, data and technical support, compiling an alternative budget will remain an impossible pursuit for the minority parties. To this extent, my response will focus mainly on socio economic( bread and butter) issues in so far as they affect our citizens. In addition we will propose measures and solutions, in areas deemed necessary, as alternatives to what government has tabled before us.
Our view is that upon delivery of every budget speech, our citizens should be able to answer the question; is my life due to take a turn for the better or worse. To many of our citizens that is what Budget Speech is all about. It must speak to the challenges they face on a daily basis, as well as endeavour to improve the quality of their lives and enhance access to services and amenities. Only if the budget answers their question in the positive will it find resonance and acceptance with Batswana.
In addressing Budget 2012 it is imperative to remind government, and the nation at large that during our response to both Budget 2011 and the state of the nation that followed, we offered a number of policy proposals for consideration and inclusion in this year's budget. Let me proceed to enumerate the proposals in question with a view to assessing if any of them have been taken on board by government.
Public Participation in Budgetary ProcessWe submit that transparency in the budgetary process is important in order to open up the workings of government and monitor how public funds are managed and spent and whether governments deliver on their obligations to the citizens, especially the most vulnerable . A more transparent budgetary process enables better oversight, better policy choices, better service delivery, greater accountability and hence legitimacy. It would be remiss not to recognise the positive steps undertaken by the MFDP in improving participation in the budgetary process. We have had a budget strategy paper as well as budget dipitso involving different institutions. We also note the publication of the twin documents (i.e. Peoples Guide to the Budget and 2012/2013 Budget in Brief) for ease of reference by the public. Although these are commendable steps they still fall short of satisfying the international best practise of disseminating eight key budget documents. We therefore challenge government to undertake the following steps going forward
a) Pre budget statement b) Enacted budgetc) Citizens budget d) In year reportse) Mid year review f) Year end reportg) Audit report Unemployment and Job CreationNext to poverty, the most pressing problem facing Botswana today is unemployment, with particular reference to the youth population. As we educate more young people, greater numbers enter the labour market annually with only a fraction of them being able to find gainful employment.
It is time government came out with a clear target regarding the number of jobs it intends to create every financial year. If the Development Fund stands at P 10.6 billion, does government have a target of the number of jobs that will be yielded by this large investment? Let us start working towards achieving set targets. As we all know joblessness presents a challenge to poverty eradication and the improvement of living standards. National stability and our socio political security as a country will be determined by how effectively we address this crises.
We recognise that finding a solution is work in progress and all proposals must be put on the agenda for consideration. Are our proposals being considered; have they been deferred pending consultation; or were they rejected outright. As a partner in governance and national development, the minimum we require is a response to proposals we present to government.
The proposals in question are as follows; a. Pitso ya Letlhoko la Ditiro - it is our contention that no government can solve the problems of the country without the assistance of its citizens and other stakeholders. We have proposed a jobs summit(pitso ya letlhoko la ditiro) where government can engage with private sector players to explore potential areas of employment creation for our people.
b. Youth Wage Subsidy Scheme - This entails the private sector being given incentives to absorb young people either permanently or for purposes of training them for a set period of time.
c. Constituency Development Fund - the time is overdue for a CDF, as is the practise in many democracies in the Commonwealth. This scheme is earmarked for constituencies to finance development projects determined by the community. The CDF will address micro developmental needs of specific communities. In the context of unemployment the CDF can also be utilised for job creation, maintenance of basic infrastructure, youth training, poverty reduction and other small scale community projects.
d. Office for Employment Opportunities Abroad - The DPSM should establish an office solely dedicated to searching for job opportunities outside the country for Batswana who wish to work as expatriates. We are of the view that those who have enough job experience can free up positions for others who may not possess the experience to be place outside. For example, in places like the new Republic of South Sudan the process of reconstruction has opened up to job opportunities which under the kind of programme we propose, can absorb many of our citizens.
e. Construction Industry - We call on government to unveil a plan through which indigenous companies in the construction sector will be protected from the unfair competition posed by state owned Chinese companies. Our proposal is for a quota of projects to be set aside for local companies so as to revive citizen participation in this sector.
f. Limits on Repatriation of Profits - Related to the above we call for limits to be placed on the repatriation of profits accrued from government tenders by foreign businesses. This will go a long way in stimulating the local economy and creating more job opportunities for Batswana.
g. Beneficiation Policy - Mining is the engine of Botswana's economic growth. Our observation is that we have not managed to exploit the full potential of our mineral resources. As a strategy for job creation, government should make it mandatory for every company extracting minerals to formulate a beneficiation policy. Besides diamonds, which other mineral commodities are being beneficiated in Botswana. We call for a more robust policy spanning the entire spectrum of mining activities.
Parastatals and Job CreationThe strategy of government in job creation has been to promote the private sector through regulation and various incentives, thereby creating an enabling environment. The dividends of this strategy have not been enough to create enough jobs to decisively address the crises of unemployment. The time has come to explore other avenues. To this end, we call on government to position its commercial parastatal companies as creators of jobs. Every state enterprise must draw up a job creation strategy which will outline how many jobs it intends to generate in every financial year. As things stand we have many of these state owned agencies who have the potential to create jobs, but due to lack of a clear policy seem not aware of this crucial mandate. We are informed that state enterprises performed satisfactorily by paying dividends of P 107 million to government. In Budget 2013 government must report to us how many jobs the parastals have created against its set target.
Food PricesWe note that in Budget 2012, as was the case in Budget 2011 that government has not offered any relief to Batswana on this critical issue. International organisations have warned us that there is a global food crises looming. A net importer of food like Botswana should be sufficiently concerned to monitor the situation and devise methods of addressing it.
The global food price index has been consistently showing an on the upward trend and those feeling the effects most are the less privileged in society. We therefore call on the minister in his response to provide a comprehensive plan on how government intends to deal with the crises. Levies & TaxesAt every opportunity to speak from this podium we have expressed concern at the increasing tax burden which has eroded household incomes, diminished purchasing power and driven those of our citizens living on the margins into deeper poverty. Without any increment in wages in the past three years we have witnessed an increase in VAT by two percentage points, water tariffs have gone up an average of 11 percent , electricity tariffs by an average of 30 percent. In Gaborone the cost of draining pit latrines has risen from P 20 to P 150.
The emptying of septic tanks has risen from P 50 to P120. It is our submission that many of these levies are introduced without legislative approval. As the supreme oversight body, we propose that any levies and taxes with a direct bearing on the socio economic wellbeing of Batswana must be tabled before the national assembly.
Reflections On Defence/Security Spending- The Peace DividendIn Budget 2011 we argued that as custodians of the public purse it is high time we are informed of the strategic considerations that underpin our defence and security expenditure. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says the level of defence expenditure must be premised on the following;
* foreign policy objectives* real or perceived threats* armed conflict*multilateral peacekeeping operations*availability of economic resources.
Against this broad criteria for increased spending, in these difficult economic times with cutbacks in certain key areas is our defence/security spending justifiable. Once more we say in view of the difficult times in which we find ourselves, the time has definitely come for a sober national conversation on defence/security spending versus the need to eradicate poverty, promote economic development, create jobs and meet other social imperatives. Let us utilise the peace dividend. PrivatisationIn Budget 2011 we asked government to explain why a profitable state owned enterprise like BTC must be privatised. We maintain our position that only public enterprises which are a drain on the public coffers should be considered for privatisation. Even then a strong case must be made through, thorough due diligence to demonstrate that all prospects for resuscitation of a given public enterprise have failed. Why should 49 percent of the profits previously accruing to the state, and by extension to the citizens of Botswana for purposes of national development go into the pockets of a few? As we have said before state enterprises provide our nation with a strategic platform for thrusts in wealth creation, creative endeavour and employment creation. We cannot hope to transform our economy if we fail to marshal some of these strategic assets into indigenous home grown multinationals. Our warning against blanket privatisation is genuine and made in the national interest. Up to today the average Motswana is in the dark in terms of how they will benefit from the privatisation of Botswana Telecommunications Corporation and National Development Bank. For the record we reiterate our opposition to the privatisation of the two state enterprises. There are too many questions and just too few answers.
*Botsalo Ntuane is the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament.(To be continued next week)