This so-called economic miracle has not transformed the lives of the ordinary Batswana who continue to be passive onlookers in the sharing of the wealth created by theirforefather as well as themselves. The beneficiaries of this wealth have over the years been those in power, their relatives, their local cronies and international collaborators. Time has come for us to ask government to account for its political and economic mismanagement of our affairs. Why has the wealth of the country fallen in the hands of a minority who are excessively wealthy while the majority remain classified as the low income group? Why should the majority of the citizens only have public facilities to show as their share of our national wealth? Given that we are a middle income country, why should the majority of the working class in our country be of low income status and not middle class?
The major contributors of this wealth has been mineral revenues and lately tourism which are both in the hands of foreign interests while our own people continue to be passive participants. Many other sectors like finance, manufacturing as well as trade are dominated by foreigners. Mineral products such as copper, nickel, gold and by- products of beef industry are exported in raw form as government has not seen it imperative to create processing plants that would bring millions of dollars in export revenue in addition to job creation. Technological transfer cannot be attained when local products are shipped in raw state.
