Inside the bittersweet “record” economic growth figures
Friday, June 03, 2022 | 1530 Views |
![Days of our lives: Fuel prices have increased by more than 40% on average in the last 24 months](https://cdn4.premiumread.com/?url=https://www.mmegi.bw/mmegi/uploads/images/2022/06/04/39486.jpg&w=800&q=72&f=jpg&t=1)
Days of our lives: Fuel prices have increased by more than 40% on average in the last 24 months
Cynics of economic growth figures frequently cite the quote made famous by US literary legend Mark Twain: “'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”.
When Statistics Botswana recently announced that the local economy had expanded by 11.4% last year, the fastest growth since 1989, many cynics felt the data agency was either fiddling with the numbers or conveniently ignoring the troubles ordinary Batswana have been experiencing in recent years.
The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...