Between now and September, the National Planning Commission will tour the country, gathering views on what should be included in the upcoming National Development Plan (NDP12). NDP12, as with previous plans, will encompass all the programmes, projects and priorities, as well as their funding sources, to be pursued over the next five years.
Each budget from February next year and in the future will have its source within NDP12, including the projects and funding allocated.
The new government, which is championing people-centred development, has decided to have a bottom-up approach to producing the new NDP and is gathering proposals from across the country in a national tour that kicked off on Tuesday.
Minister for State President, Moeti Mohwasa, has called on Batswana to be creative and dream big in their submissions, saying the country has the potential to springboard its development through the appropriate plans and projects. The NPC falls under the mandate of the Ministry for State President, while the Vice President, Ndaba Gaolathe, leads the National Planning Council, which acts as the oversight body. Other members of the oversight council include the ministries of Lands and Agriculture, Trade and Entrepreneurship and Local Government.
“We need to think big; we need to dream,” Mohwasa said in a wide-ranging interview on Wednesday. “As the President was saying the other day, we used to watch sci-fi movies, and now some of this technology is a reality.
“Look at where Dubai was some years ago, or Japan with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki where are they now? “Look at where Germany was after the Second World War and yet now it is the biggest economy in Europe. “So we just have to start being creative and start imagining. “Yes, we still value our cattle and others, but we must look at life beyond that.”
In its national “think-tour,” the NPC will be engaging at the grassroots level with villagers, their Village Development Committees and other structures, leading to the compilation of ideas at the District Commissioner level. From there, these ideas will be collated at the Ministry level into a draft NDP.
“After we do the NDP that’s fed from those at local level, we are going to present it in October,” Mohwasa explained.
“We are looking at presenting it in September in Parliament for the legislators to study it for a whole month. “Then first of October we debate it in Parliament with the hope that by the end of October we can have it approved and after that from first of November, we can have it kick in.”
This particular NDP is eagerly awaited as Batswana have a laundry-list of aspirations they want to see captured by the new government. However, the economy is under a cloud, having contracted by three percent last year, while the budget is running record-level deficits due to a prolonged downturn in diamonds.
Previous NDPs have been compromised by wastage, poor implementation and corruption, meaning the best-laid plans have not translated into optimum delivery for Batswana. The space for such human vices does not exist with NDP12 due to both the high expectations of Batswana and the economic stranglehold.
“We just have to make sure we put the proper mechanisms in place,” said Mohwasa.
“Right now, we have a forensic audit going on and it’s not just about sniffing and following up on diversion of funds or corruption.
“It is also to advise in terms of which measures we can put in place to ensure that there’s a high level of accountability.”
He continued: “We are hoping that the assignment for the forensic audit should be done in 10 months and by then, the NDP12 will have kicked in.
“Whatever recommendations and suggestions in terms of going forward will help us to make sure there’s no bleeding of government resources.
“We are also actually reforming the role of the Auditor General because we want to close those gaps and try and make it much more independent.”
The strained economic times also mean Batswana and policymakers will have to be more creative in stretching the thebes available for NDP12. Mohwasa gave the example of two people each having P200, but attaining different outcomes due to their better utilisation of the funds.
Greater interrogation of the private sector’s role in development is also expected to be a highlight of the forthcoming NDP. “It’s a question of creativity. As we move around, we are encouraging our people to be creative and think outside the box in terms of funding models.
“For instance, we can actually have some projects that can be funded without the government popping out money, where we can get the private sector to come in and develop.
“We are on the lookout for those funding models where you get the private sector to fund and run with some of the activities.
“For instance, as a nation, is it still necessary for us to have a fleet? Can’t we embrace zero-fleet and say use your own vehicles and we give you allowances?
“What it does is that you don’t worry about maintenance or shrinkage from that stock, but right now, the government pays a lot towards repairs of vehicles and the theft that arises out of that.
“People are actually looting in the government fleet, yet at any given time, you find probably 30% or more of the gov’t fleet that’s not functioning.” However, in the engagement of the private sector, Mohwasa believes there should be a reconfiguration of the relationship to ensure a balancing out of the roles in development. Some of this might possibly be through government insourcing activities such as security and cleaning work to ensure better pay and conditions for workers.
He said that at the end of the day, the deliberations towards the new NDP12, should be based on uplifting the lives of Batswana to improved incomes.
“We should not look at development as being like increasing the number of people who work for Ipelegeng.
“We should make sure we move people from jobs that don’t attract decent incomes, to better-paying jobs.
“There’s a need for a total overhaul and transformation.
“What’s central is that we have to be careful that in whatever we do, to make sure we focus on developing the people.
“We can’t talk about development when there’s poverty.”
