We were not shocked when he said the role of Government is not to create jobs, but to provide a conducive macroeconomic environment to facilitate the development of the private sector. Matambo, who is also a member of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), has joined other masters of the art of double-speak in the party.
The BDP government will never own up to anything negative happening in the country. Only the positive attributes belong to the party. We still remember the time when the much acclaimed Economic Stimulus Package (ESP) was announced at a special congress. The BDP took all the credit, tirumphantly beating their chests claiming that they have found the panacea to blow away economic ills bedevilling Botswana and that things will never be the same again. They reminded all who cared to listen that the ‘historic landmark announcement’ by President Ian Khama was a clear demonstration that the BDP cared about Batswana. It is about two years now since the ESP was implemented. Come 2017 budget speech, Matambo did not say much about the so-called ‘game changer’, to use the words of BDP secretary general Botsalo Ntuane in 2015. Two years down the line, Matambo is telling the nation that it is not the duty of his Government to create jobs. We still remember the BR Express fiasco. When Khama launched the BR Express a year ago, the BDP government took all the credit. But the credit was short-lived because the newly launched BR Express experienced some serious mechanical problems a week later. The mess was shifted to a relevant Government department to own up. This Government will never cease to amaze us. Clearly, they don’t care about the welfare of this nation anymore. They have lost hope of governing this country. Matambo’s speech is depressing and does not offer solutions to problems afflicting the most Batswana. Youth unemployment is rife, graduates are roaming the streets, crime is rampant and urban migration is out of order. In other words Matambo, like the Russian emperor who danced while his people were in dire straits, is telling us that he does not care about all these problems. They do not affect him, so why will he care? In his own words,it is not his duty to create jobs, so why should he care about unemployment? Because of lack of foresight, in five decades, the Government has been exporting jobs to other countries. If the Government could bring back the jobs, especially from the developed Western countries, unemployment would be history in this country. Government is always talking about diversification of the economy away from the minerals, especially the diamonds, but there is no commitment. Masters of the art of double talk to boot!.
