Whilst previous ministers had touched on much of the same issues, this time it felt as if the issues were getting the due attention they deserve. It felt like the ministry and minister had finally listened to a lot of the complaints Batswana have about the budget and the way it is presented. I could not tell if this was a result of there being a new minister at the ministry or the shackles of NDP11 being shaken off and the ministry embracing the possibilities that come with the conceptualisation of a new national development plan. Or maybe the effects of the Reset Agenda being felt? Whatever the reason, this budget speech felt like it was a step in the right direction.
As I have bemoaned in the past, the typical response to a problem in Botswana has been to throw money at it. As one consultant said this week, we focus too much on resources rather than resourcefulness i.e finding innovative ways to do a lot with a little. Botswana has been plagued by this inclination over the past 30 years. Because we were 'rich' we didn’t have to plan very well. We didn’t have to think about return on investment for projects, we could just focus on political motivations and actions. We used no real investment criteria on where to place a school/road/clinic and didn’t care too much to manage its costs. We could take reckless political decisions to award salary hikes just before election years to buy them (what does it say about our political maturity and literacy? That this still works?) and the fiscal position of the country would still prosper. The phase of abundant resources ended in 2008 but in the 14 years since then, we have not been able to re-adjust and transform into a country of resourcefulness. This speech finally felt like there are serious conversations now being had to correct that.
