The minister effectively told legislators that a forensic audit report into Debswana could not be made available to them because it contained "sensitive and confidential information". While the minister is spot on in saying revelation of this report in Parliament would be sub judice, given the ongoing criminal matter involving charges of corruption and mal-administration at Debswana, the entire affair fortifies what the August House and the press have long known. In its dealings with De Beers, it would appear the executive has vigorously attempted to sideline and alienate the legislature. While in other administrations, oversight committees are created in Parliament to consider arrangements with private sector players, government has often relied on its own limited expertise to interface with entities such as De Beers.
Thus, effectively, the executive binds the nation to various complex contracts without the input of the citizenry through their elected representatives in Parliament. The continent is littered with terrifying examples of countries whose citizens have found themselves mortgaged to multinational corporations who have used their guile and expertise to hoodwink governments into inescapable contracts. These examples mirror the national incredulity that greeted news of the sordid dealings between De Beers and the government earlier in the year, a relationship and situation that could have been ameliorated through regulation by a Parliamentary oversight committee.
