On Monday, the Minister of Finance, Ken Matambo will deliver a national budget speech. It is an understatement to say a majority of citizens have long lost interest in the budget speech. They neither follow the speech nor bother to later read it to determine what is in it for them.
They look at the speech as a meaningless ritual, the true objectives of which are never made clear to them. While this should get us all worried, we cannot blame citizens for drifting away. It reflects the level at which the rulers have detached and disengaged from those they lead. Every year citizens are called to make suggestions and contributions on the budget formulation.
Few ever bother. We should ask ourselves why citizens do not want to participate in a process that is supposed to have a big impact on their lives. Our view is that many citizens feel that their voices do not matter. They may be wrong. But it is up to those in power to prove that all voices ultimately matter. Up to now that has not happened. Many Batswana have disengaged because they feel invitations for them to make suggestions in budget formulation are a cosmetic exercise meant to dupe them into giving them a false sense of importance and also lending and extending legitimacy to a process that is inherently flawed. We call on Government to make more meaningful reforms in budget drafting. Only those reforms can get the people back.
If ultimately the budget disregards all the inputs made by Batswana then just who does it represent? We agree that Government has an obligation to govern the country and make many and in some cases unpopular decisions. That is the nature of a democracy. But for those in power to centralize all decision making processes and behave like they have all the exclusive rights to wisdom is hardly the best way to run a country, much less create unity and a culture of inclusivity.
Also worrying is a growing belief among citizens that budget speeches are often a regurgitation of past ones, with only minor changes to highlight current economic data. Related to that is another belief that some of the data contained in the budget speech if often wrong.
A growing number of citizens also believe that even government itself does not follow its own budget once passed by parliament. All these are issues of trust. They signal a collapsed trust between citizens and those in power. It was not always like this. In the past citizens used to look forward to a budget with great expectation and anticipation. Of course one might argue that during those days the budget speech was also a platform for announcing salary increases.
That of course has some truth in. But there was more to it than just salary increases. Budget speeches connected with people. People could relate with those speeches. We need to benchmark with such countries like Mauritius where budget speeches are still big national events. We should try to establish what those speeches contain that allows connect with the masses. More importantly, we should establish the processes followed in drafting those speeches.
