A while into the interview, I ask Kitso Mokaila ÔÇô the minister for minerals, energy and water resources for the past 11 months ÔÇô to look me in the eye and give me a message to my children that they will be able to study without any more power disruptions.
“Up until Morupule B, and by that I men all the four units, is functioning consistently I won’t look you in the eye and make that assurance,” he answers.
The one certainty he is prepared to convey is that we are slowly getting out of the darkness of the past months. While it might sound like the response does not inspire much confidence, he calls it a “more honest answer”. He reveals that Morupule currently delivers 230 ÔÇô 240megawatts as opposed to the 540megawatts that the economy requires in summer. To make up for the deficit, the country is still dependent on imported power.
He projects that the various developments currently being carried out should ensure that Botswana doubles its power capacity by around 2017. The developments, which include two projects by independent power producers, will have a combined output of 1332megawatts.
The independent power producers who will be feeding onto the BPC grid will have a power purchase agreement with the utility authority. Mokaila states that unlike government, the independent producers are going to charge a cost reflective tariff. He maintains that the cost of power is currently grossly subsidized.
“The current tariff doesn’t reflect the cost of infrastructure and overheads, and this is something Batswana must be aware of,” he says. “The issue is that electricity comes at a cost. So even as we say we are going to double the capacity, it is going to come at a huge cost.”
He doesn’t say if we should prepare for another tariff hike, except to maintain that BPC will be buying at a premium. The final decision whether to pass the cost to the customer will come from government.
Mokaila feels there is a strong case to be made against the view that the high cost of utilities compromises Botswana’s potential to attract FDI?
“Look,” he states, “one thing that Botswana can boast of is that it’s a secure to invest in. The advantages we have far outweigh the prices we charge for utilities.”
From power cuts to water rationing. What’s going on?
Mokaila’s response is that Batswana have to wake up to the reality that all resources must be used sustainably. Then he draws parallels with how past generations appreciated the value of resource conservation.
“A resource that was plentiful is no longer plentiful, so we have decided to ration water,” he says. “With the diminishing water levels, we will have to extend the life of our dams to the next rainy season, and we can only do that by limiting the amount of water we provide.”
In his view, this is the beginning of a process to inculcate a change in the culture of how people in Botswana utilise finite natural resources. When the lesson is learnt, he points out, we will become a nation that conserves its resources, as well as use more sustainable alternatives.
The question of cost features yet again. When Water Utilities Corporation took over the role of water distribution from different local authorities, he states, it found that in some areas people were using water for free. He mentions over 4 000 connections in areas around Maun that were found to have been unmetered.
“When WUC took over, it ensured that you have to pay for the water you use,” he states. “The cost of the entire water infrastructure is dependent on people paying for the resource. Until we know that these resources don’t come for free we will have a problem in this country.”
He says in some villages people watered their livestock from the standpipes. He talks of a water conflict between human consumption and livestock with some farmers now taking to vandalising pipes and tanks to water their animals.
After a prolonged debate whether Botswana’s tap water is safe to drink, Mokaila explains that in some areas where there is no electricity, there are challenges in ensuring that the water meets the standard set by the Botswana Bureau of Standards.
“In major towns and cities, the water tested regularly, and this is not to suggest that it will always be 100%. But I say it’s safe to drink,” he says.
One of the biggest water treatment plants is being constructed in Maun to ensure clean water for the area, he states.
Increasingly, talk is gaining currency that building regulations should be amended to take into account Botswana’s climatic condition. Mokaila responds to this suggestion by giving a bit of history. In 1966, he states, most houses in Gaborone had gutters and rainwater tanks, allowing households to harvest water when it rained. He blames the coming of convenience for the mindset change that bred the belief that conservation either unnecessary or outdated. Over the years, the responsibility to harvest rainwater was shifted entirely to government. He reveals that the thinking in government is moving towards influencing policy to turn the wheel full circle.
“We are engaging with the ministry of infrastructure, science and technology to reshape the building regulations to bring back things like rainwater tanks, separation of grey water from black water so that water gets recycled on the property,” he says.
It appears like a contradiction in terms. The man who is telling the nation that its water resource is depleting has issued over 1000 exploration licences that could lead to the opening of new mines, which are some of the biggest of guzzlers of electricity and water. He explains that the work to double power generation is chiefly out of anticipation of increased demand from new mining activities.
“If they (new mines) don’t come up, of course we might be landed with too much power,” he says. “From a water point of view, we have explored for underground water. We have permission to draw 495 million cubic meters (MCM) per annum out of the Zambezi. Theoretically, we have lots of water; what lacks is the infrastructure to convey the water. With the underground resource and the MCM, we believe we have sufficient water.”
Before we part, I ask Mokaila to share his personal experiences of the power cuts.
“Driving home from the office having to drive through the dark, and seeing all those dark traffic lights was a total nightmare,” he says. “I didn’t have a generator at home; it was winter, and it was very cold. I got calls from parents telling me that their kids couldn’t do any homework in the evening. Businesses were telling me they were suffering. I guess it comes with the territory. If you can’t carry that burden and work to change things, then you shouldn’t be in leadership.”
When I ask where he drew the strength to come to the office each morning, he walks across the room to reach for his Blackberry to read me two quotations he has stored in the handset. One says, “Giving up is not an option”. There is another one sent to him by a friend. He calls it “the best thing”. It says, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have”.
Even when the odds seemed heavily stacked against him, he maintains that he never felt overwhelmed.
“I guess when you lead there is no opportunity to want to feel overwhelmed,” he points out. “The stress takes a toll on you; it can take a toll on everybody. But if you throw your arms in the air what confidence do you show that you know what you are doing? To me that was not an option.”
One lesson that Mokaila says he has drawn from this experience is that in future there should be insistence that all major projects be delivered before due time and that “we sit on those delivering the project to meet milestones set”.
“One of the problems of this project was the cultural differences between us and those implementing the project. There were culture and language challenges at every level. In future, these things must be factored in. Whoever will be tasked with delivering a project must understand our own culture,” he says.
He says the lapses do not suggest lack of forward planning.
“I’m not faulting planning because it was constituted on time. (If anything is to be faulted), I think it was our ability to sit on it. I am prepared to take responsibility and say as a ministry our oversight should have been better,” he says.
