Saturday, November 2, 2024

Ministers must be held accountable for things that happen in their ministries

The constitution of our republic gives the President power to appoint people of his choice to cabinet. The President is not obliged to consult anyone and those that he appoints basically serve at his pleasure because he can drop them anytime he deems appropriate. He is also not obliged to provide any explanation to the nation when he appoints or drops people from cabinet.

And President Khama, just like his predecessors, has so far deemed it unnecessary to tell the nation why certain individuals (e.g. Patrick Masimolole & Tshireletso Botlhogile) have been appointed to cabinet, why others (particularly women such as Prof Tlou & Moggie Mbaakanyi) were dropped and why some have recently been appointed on temporary basis (e.g. Edwin Batshu). About two weeks ago, Lesego Motsumi was dropped from cabinet and the nation does not know exactly what forced the President to take that decision because he is not obliged to explain.

Some people suspect that she was dropped for the manner in which she handled Wynter Mmolotsi’s parliamentary question which required her, as the Acting Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, to reveal the names of companies that were awarded multi-million Pula tenders to supply BDF with vehicles and other commodities in the 1990s and how they got to know about the tenders. Others opine that it is the manner in which she conducted the affairs of her ministry that resulted in her demotion.

Despite all this confusion, we know that she revealed the identities of the beneficiaries of the BDF tenders and went further to tell parliament that she did not know how they got to know about the tenders. The answer that she gave epitomized an arrogant, irresponsible and unaccountable Minister who did not do her homework and therefore failed the nation. As a citizen, taxpayer and a voter, I felt insulted and belittled by Motsumi’s answer.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Commander-in-Chief of BDF, President Khama, who was also the commander at that time, has a very good answer to the question that was asked. But since Motsumi decided to protect the people who benefitted and those who informed them about the tenders, I support the decision taken by President Khama to drop her from cabinet. Motsumi’s capabilities as a Minister are an issue for discussion for another day. What is of great interest to me, as a citizen of this country, is that she failed to tell the nation the truth about the BDF tenders and she had to go.

But this is not the only case of unaccountability among politicians as evidenced by the fact that Ministers Vension-Moitoi and Johnny Swartz have also failed the nation by telling untruths and by wasting taxpayers’ money on projects that are never completed on time and within budget. Despite the final examination crisis that we witnessed towards the end of last year, Minister Venson-Moitoi kept on telling the nation that everything was going well. She even went to the extent of telling the President to assure the nation that everything is fine.

And the President did exactly that as he stated in his 2010 State of the Nation address: “Madam Speaker, our media have recently been inundated with reports on the impasse between teacher organisations and the Botswana Examination Council (BEC), regarding the conduct of this year’s examinations. In this context, it is worth noting that the Primary School, PSLE, exam was conducted successfully, while the Form Five, BGCSE, exams have started and are running well (emphasis mine) with the assistance of willing teachers, retired teachers, unemployed graduates and some qualified officers as per the BEC Act.” Note that the President deliberately said nothing about the Form Three exams as if they were not part of the equation.

Three months after the nation was told an untruth about the manner in which final examinations were conducted, students and parents are still waiting anxiously for the Form Three and Form Five results. If there was no examination crisis as Minister Vension-Moitoi claimed, why are the results not released? How does one explain the current situation where there are no Form Four students in all secondary schools in Botswana if the examinations were conducted properly? Is it not in order for the Minister to go on national radio and TV and tell the nation that she was economical with the truth?

If Lesego Motsumi could be dropped from cabinet for failing to handle issues pertaining to her ministries properly as most of us think, why is Minister Vension-Moitoi treated differently when she failed to ensure that final examinations are conducted properly? She misled the President, parliament and the nation at large but continues to serve as a Minister.

As for Minister Swartz, it is public knowledge that his ministry has failed to ensure that government projects are implemented on time and within budget. Examples include the national stadium which was to be used for attracting one of the teams billed to participate at the 2010 Fifa World Cup hosted by South Africa. Some stadia in South Africa were constructed and completed before the world cup started and were even used while our national stadium which was closed for renovations still remains closed. Interestingly, no one has been held accountable for this inordinate delay.

The Serowe Teacher Training College is another project that is reported to be behind schedule and is already experiencing serious cost-overruns. Is it right for the taxpayers’ money to be used the way it is done in Minister Swartz ministry? Since he recently appeared on BTv admitting that his ministry has failed to deliver as expected, is it not right that he should be relieved of his ministerial responsibilities just like Lesego Motsumi?

President Khama has “delivery” as one of the words defining his roadmap. If he is serious about service delivery and prudent management of national resources, then he should hold all his Ministers accountable for their actions, inactions and the decisions that they make. They hold positions of trust and must execute their duties with the full knowledge that they are the servants of the citizens who should be told the truth and be treated with respect.

The use of an ad-hoc committee led by the Vice President to assess the performance of Ministers is wanting as it is open to abuse. A comprehensive performance evaluation criterion for all Ministers and Assistant Ministers has to be developed so that they can fully account for everything that happens in their ministries in the same manner as it is done with Permanent Secretaries and their deputies.

*Dr. Mothusi teaches Public Administration at the University of Botswana

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