Misgivings about monthly incentives
Friday, February 15, 2019
The Zebras players were paid monthly allowances PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE
Soon after assuming power in 2008, Khama assigned the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development (MYSC), Department of Sport and Recreation, Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) and the Botswana Football Association (BFA) to facilitate a proposal to pay allowances to players from each of the 16 football Premier League and 24 First Division teams, as well as volleyball league teams.
“This gesture was to extend to other sports codes in subsequent years, provided they run national leagues or regular tournaments that could be aggregate into a league,” reads a document which was presented by the BNSC to Khama before the implementation of the scheme.
Whilst celebrating milestones in inclusivity, with notably P5 billion awarded to vulnerable groups, the report sounds a 'siren' on a dangerous and growing trend: the ballooning use of micro-procurement. That this method, designed for small-scale, efficient purchases, now accounts for a staggering 25% (P8 billion) of total procurement value is not a sign of agility, but a 'red flag'. The PPRA’s warning is unequivocal and must be...