Sunday, April 20, 2025

‘BDC probe committee not yet appointed’ – Nasha

The Speaker of the National Assembly, Margaret Nasha, will today present to the Parliament Select Committee the names of legislators she is proposing for inclusion in the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC) probe team in accordance with the House’s Standing Orders.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Nasha refused to divulge the names of her preferred candidates to form the investigating team.

She said in terms of the National Assembly Standing Orders, the Parliament Select Committee will either accept her nominees or reject them and alternatively make changes as they may deem fit. 
The Speaker said it is only after the work of the select committee that the names of the nominees would be presented on the floor of parliament for endorsement or rejection, including any changes by the entire house.

Although Nasha did not want to divulge the names of her nominees, she underscored that she doesn’t want the committee to be either too big or too small.

“I don’t want it to be too big and cumbersome or too small for the envisaged work that it would be assigned to undertake,” said Nasha.

Asked what considerations she would use in naming her preferred candidates, she said she would use their past performance in the various parliament committees in which the legislators are members.
The speaker will ensure that all the parties with representation in the house are represented in the committee.

Meanwhile, Nasha has refuted media reports that she has appointed former Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Charles Tibone, to chair the parliament select committee on the BDC probe.

Contacted for comment on the media reports, Tibone┬áconfirmed that he had seen the report which he dismissed as┬á“wishful thinking by some”, adding that he has not been appointed to chair the committee.

Asked whether he would accept nomination into the committee given that he is a former minister in the ministry under which BDC falls, he said he would make a consideration to that effect at the appropriate time.

“If I am appointed I will have to consider it. I can’t say yes or no now. I will have to hear and consider what the accounting authority says before making any decision on whether to accept or not,” he said in a telephone interview.

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