Depending on which side of the debate on the Poverty Eradication Programme you are on, President Lt Gen Ian Khama is either an inventive messiah or a delirious pipe dreamer.
The real Ian Khama, however, is probably somewhere between the two extremes. The president’s hobby-horse has become both a rallying point for his supporters and the the butt of jokes among a legion of Khama bashers who say it is not only wrongheaded but also wrongly named in that poverty has never been eradicated anywhere in the world. Suggestions that the name be changed to “Poverty Alleviation Programme” have however driven the President to hold ever more steadfastly to his convictions.
The most memorable jibe came from an unlikely critic, former President Festus Mogae who convinced that eradicating poverty is impossible has come out publicly to say well meaning as it might sound, the policy strikes him as utopian.
The programme has not been helped by its lack of guidelines, relying mostly on its chief architect’s strong will to tinker with it as it stumbles and splutters along.
The growing criticism has not been lost on its chief mid-wife, Minister of Presidential Mokgweetsi Masisi who this week said critics of the policy have read too much and “too loosely” on the policy’s name tag.
Masisi chairs a high powered cabinet sub-committee that coordinates the flagship programme.
“We are on course. I say to our critics we will succeed,” he said in his now signature buoyancy.
It is a strong leap of faith based on nothing much more a reassuring knowledge that he is after all standing on a solid moral high ground.
Like President Khama, Minister Masisi is abnormally aware of criticisms of sustainability of the programme, many of them not altogether unfounded, including those made by such highly esteemed institutions like the World Bank.
As has been the case in all his previous encounters with the media, early in the week, the Minister for Presidential Affairs instinctively moved towards engaging with those criticisms almost preemptively.
He was in his element.
He is wholly confident that history will ultimately absolve him and those that unconditionally lend a kind hand to the policy. All he asks for is patience.
But with elections looming, criticism has only grown sharper. And critics are unwilling to show neither patience nor restraint. This week a leading politician said the programme was haphazard and not creating any lasting life skills for beneficiaries.
“…the discussion on poverty eradication in Botswana centers largely on Ipelegeng/public works and the Poverty Eradication Initiative. The effect of these current initiatives is to create permanently dependent citizens, who lose interest in the idea of opportunity for themselves in the mainstream economy. We create, as a country, citizens who lose trust in their own potential to be meaningful participants in the economic and social mainstream. The schemes are not structured to build skills, or even build pride in what may have been achieved in these public works programmes,” says Ndaba Gaolathe, the Policy Chief of the opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change.
Gaolathe adds that his party is less interested in the concept of “poverty eradication” and more interested in that of “no citizen is left behind.”
“The current Government has no systematic and coordinated scholarship scheme for vulnerable groups, especially people living with disabilities. Tens and thousands are hidden at home, and end up being a burden to the economy in the long term, whereas they can be groomed to become formidable economic participants,” says Gaolathe.
Correspondingly, proponents of the policy have become more determined, including calling critics two-faced as some of them privately draw money from the programme as suppliers while in public they turn around to say it’s a waste of money.
Assistant Minister of Finance, Vincent Seretse says Botswana’s poverty, just as is the global one is a result of a human fight over resources.
Seretse is of the view that for there to be success there has to be relevant tools to empower beneficiaries.
“We need a proper supply chain linking beneficiaries to the market.”
He is of the view that growing the middle class will be the next phase of poverty eradication programme.
As the policy’s operational supremo, Minister Masisi comes across as expressly aware that things have not entirely moved at the pace that he would have wanted.
“We must never forget the fact that many of the beneficiaries are people who have never in their lives owned a project like this which is why they are poor. But still more projects succeed than they fail.” He reckons success rate hovers somewhere at the height of 80 percent.
It is a figure critics will obviously dismiss as a joke.
At this moment he pleads not just for patience but indulgence as well ÔÇô the umpteenth time he has done so during his media address.
“The people being helped are the poorest of the poor,” he reminds his audience.
At this moment one of his lieutenants, assistant minister Keletso Rakhudu wades into the debate to remind that poverty is not just an economic condition, but also a social one.
According to Rakhudu, poverty conjures deep-seated prejudices and stereotypes which may be contributing to reluctance on the part of communities to support outfits owned by the poor who would have benefited from such schemes like poverty eradication suites.
He says some of the projects collapse on account of prejudice,community members do not like supporting poor people.
As government’s flagship programme, there is consensus among critics and adherents alike that the government’s poverty eradication programme has generously received money, resources and patronage from government and her agencies much more than all the other programmes.
But perhaps most astonishing is the absence of statistical data to highlight the number of beneficiaries; both actual and potential not to mention the amount of money already disbursed.
According to the latest World Bank Report titled Botswana Social Protection Assessment (December 2013), the country has reduced extreme poverty – the share of population living below US $1 a day – from 23 percent in 2003 to 6 percent in 2009/10.
While underlining the importance of up to date data on the distribution of poverty by age the same World Bank report bemoans that “unfortunately the information is still not available for 2009/10 Botswana Core welfare Indicators Survey.”
By his thinking minister Masisi is of the view that it is too early to compile data.
A lot still has to be done to reach to where poor people are; another way of spelling out his mantra of patience.
Repeatedly the minister points out that the revolving workshops, each estimated at between P2 million and P6million are crucial for the success of the programme.
A contentious component of Poverty eradication Programme even within cabinet, workshops are deemed by critics as unpardonable waste of resources that could otherwise be given to who need them most.
Masisi has steadfastly defended these workshops.
His tone, passion and conviction have not faded with time.
“For many of the participants it is the first time in their lives that they attend a workshop paid for by government, with three full meals, with security and accommodation. Unlike what often happens with civil servants these people do not get pediem.” He says it should not be surprising that the bill goes up to P2 million, which by many estimates is a deliberately conservative figure for the overall costs of the workshops.
To further justify the workshops, the minister adds that they leave behind a lasting “legacy of capacitation as entrepreneurs are paid handsomely by government to provide such items like tents, showers portable toilets.”
At least twice during briefing the Botswana Defence Force and their civilian counterparts Botswana Police are acknowledged as kingpins for the success of such workshops.
Without them not much would have been achieved, says Masisi.
As a result the government minister responsible for both the army and the police, Ndelu Seretse has been rewarded with being the key guest at the next workshop which will be held in Jamataka Village this week.
In its report, the World Bank says while Botswana has many social protection programmes, some of them are rather small relative to the target group they try to cover which in turn limits their effectiveness.
“Targeted programs for the poor … cover less than 3 percent of the population. Furthermore, safety net programmes are fragmented. They are implemented by different ministries, diluting scarce administrative capacity… It is very likely that these programmes benefit mostly the non-poor,” says the report.
The technocrat responsible for coordination of Poverty Eradication Programme, Permanent Secretary John Mothibi is acutely aware of current impact of absence of any evaluation and monitoring, not just on the beneficiaries but families as well.
To him and other defenders of the programme, an absence of up-to-date statistics and monitoring and evaluating frameworks risks sapping the ammunition with which to justify and showcase the programme’s successes and opportunities for further entrenchment.
He says while spending on uplifting people is of utmost importance, equally so is to track results and see how beneficiaries are doing long after officials have moved on to new targets.
Perhaps as an answer to critics of the programme that it places too much emphasis on rural areas at the exclusion of urban poor, Dr Mothibi says going forward the Poverty Eradication Programme will entail a strong urban slant.
“Building markets for the urban poor will be important going forward.”
He says Botswana will take a leaf from China ÔÇô one of the few countries so far visited by the cabinet sub-committee responsible for the programme, with a strong emphasis in fighting poverty among the urban poor.
