A familiar uncertainty sets over the economy
Monday, August 08, 2022 | 1530 Views |
Hard times: The economy suffered its deepest contraction since Independence in 2020 when COVID-19 hit PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO
To use American slang, the economy, which includes business activity, employment creation and the collective aspirations of Batswana, cannot seem to “catch a break”.
The boom economy which stretched from the late 1990s to the late 2000s with diamond and copper production reaching historic peaks, government surpluses rising to similar highs, while poverty and unemployment fell, seems a distant, wistful memory of consistency that policymakers and citizens desperately long for today.
But on the particularly sensitive question of cadre deployment, the BNF must tread very carefully.The issue deserves robust debate, not ideological enthusiasm. Recent public comments from the BNF leadership are reassuring: the party has said that government positions should be based on merit and competence rather than party membership, and that it does not have a specific cadre-deployment policy.That principle should remain firmly at the centre...