A lot has been written on the recent Botswana Democratic Party Congressional Elections. In particular some people have been excited by the outcome of the elections and interpret the result to mean that the BDP delegates rejected what President Ian Khama stands for and the direction he wants to take the country.
Let me digress a bit and say I have always found it very strange that in the BDP even the President comes in as an afterthought when the BDP factions (A and B) draw their lobby lists for party elections. The only person untouchable in the BDP is not the President but the Treasurer. People talk of Khama not owning the BDP. True that – but why can’t they complete the sentence by telling us who really owns the BDP.
I am not a party functionary and therefore could not be bothered one bit, whether BDP delegates vote Daniel Kwelagobe, Tebelelo Seretse and Gomolemo Motswaledi into the Central Committee 100 times per year. What I am interested in though- as a citizen of this country and an economist- is to know Whose interests, the people in the Central Committee of a Party, which will definitely be in government come October 2009, intend to serve and protect.
Is it the poor who make a large part of this country and account for 99% of the votes the BDP receives every election or is it the money magnates and financiers, property developers and BIG retail store owners they want to serve. As a Motswana, I believe the time has come for the BDP to make a choice between these two, simply because in Botswana the two are mutually exclusive. I love rich people and wish I could have rich friends. The problem is that in this country, some (not all) of those who control this economy, perpetually luxuriate in seeing everybody else living in the periphery of one of the biggest economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Every effort by Government to get small businesses and informal sector to participate in the mainstream economy is always frustrated by Big Business in this country. Procurement by some large companies totally maginalises SMMEs. This is wrong, and is a recipe for civil strive in the future. As they say “O ka se digadike wa dija”! A lot of people who campaigned against the President’s position in the run up to Kanye Congress argued that they were doing this to protect our democracy and ensure that the constitution of the Republic is respected at all times.
This insinuated that the President of the Republic is Law unto himself and that he violates the Constitution willy-nilly! I am not a lawyer, let alone an expert in Constitutional law, and will therefore leave this matter to people Like Advocate Tshepiso Sithembiso Dlodlo to tell Batswana how, since 1st April 2008, the Constitution of Botswana has been assaulted by the person of Ian Khama. To me, there are a couple of reasons a certain group of people in this country accuse Khama of being the biggest threat to our democracy and hate him with passion:
ÔÇó The Establishment of Competition Commission
Khama is a major proponent of the Establishment of a Competition Commission. The Competition Commission will seek to provide all Batswana with an equal opportunity to participate fairly in the national economy, in order to promote a more effective and efficient economy.
The Competition Commission will be responsible for investigating complaints made against firms engaging in restrictive business practices, and for evaluating, approving or prohibiting mergers and acquisitions.
In short, the Competition Commission will ensure that, we regulate the market and level the playing field, such that we do not have a single individual and company, owning everything from a chicken farm to the biggest company in Botswana. This, apparently, is one Major reason Khama is seen as a threat to this country. The fact is, Corporations strive for profits, and one of the ways of garnering sustainable profits is to restrict competition – buying up competitors, squashing competitors by driving them out of business, or colluding with competitors to raise prices.
Look at the manufacturing sector in this country you will see a clear act of collusion between manufacturers to exploit consumers. Unfair competition and exploitation is more pronounced in the retail business especially with the supply of building materials in Botswana. Who dominates this market, what is their relationship with the BDP, and what was their interest in the Kanye outcome?
The Botswana economy is but controlled by a few large suppliers and a Competition Commission must be established to protect Batswana (of all races) from further exploitation. 2: The Halaal Standards and unfair Competition Economic diversification, development of entrepreneurship and support for SMMEs will remain but a pipe dream in Botswana without a strong competition Commission to ensure fair trade in Botswana. An effective enforcement of competition policy requires criminal sanctions.
I have on many occasions indicated that there is no way CEDA can work to support SMMEs when the same SMME have to contend with unfair trade practices of large companies. For over 40 years, many SMMEs in Botswana have complained to Government, without anybody in Government taking them seriously, that Halal requirements by some (not all) businesses in Botswana are nothing, but a well defined strategy to engage in anti competitive behavior to drive majority of Batswana out of mainstream economy and back to the rural areas. This has come to pass. After 40 years who owns what in this country? Khama was the first President to take SMMEs seriously on Halaal, when he said at his 1st State of the Nation Address “The Ministry of Trade and Industry is also working on mechanisms for major food retailers to accommodate non-Halaal consumers, who are by far the majority of the consumers in the country, by amongst others, providing non-Halaal sections and products in their shops. The Attorney General is drafting a statutory instrument to this effect”.
This has clearly upset some very influential people. They are using this very innocent observation by the President to create racial tension between Batswana of Asian origin and everybody else. Now the President is accused of being a racist against Batswana of Asian origin. This is nonsense and these people know very well that they are using innocent people to protect their selfish interests. I am a Zionist, and therefore prefer Halaal products; but all what the President and majority of small suppliers and Consumers are saying is simply that let the 90% of the population who are non-halaal be allowed to choose. The current situation where SMMEs do not get much support from big business, due to some of these unfair business practices, is not good for this country. It might be easier today to manipulate poor politicians by lending them cars and giving them loans at lower interest rates to protect selfish interests, but these politicians’ Children will one day see some of these people for what the really are: White collar criminals who took advantage of their parents’ poverty to exploit this country. 3: The Role of the Private Sector especially Large Companies A large number of private companies have not been playing any meaningful role in the drive to develop and diversify our economy. The reason is simply that Government, which is the biggest investor in the economy (where the private sector is the largest beneficiary), for many years, did not have mechanisms in place to ensure that its investment accrues to companies that add value to the economy and contribute to skills development, development of SMMEs, technology transfer and job creation. When Khama talked of the introduction of skills development programmes, he was accused of being fiscally irresponsible and a serious populist. The irony is, everywhere in the World, except for Botswana that is, skills development and graduate internship programmes are core to developing the youth and bridging gaps between what the University teaches and what the industry (market) requires. I hope the New Minister of Finance will fully support this programme. In the 2007 Budget Speech, the Minister of Finance talked about the amendment of the Income Tax (Training Regulations) which entails: (a) allowing businesses that offer unemployed youth any form of training to benefit from the tax reduction provisions; (b) making training expenses for part-time employees eligible for 200% deduction. Naturally Businesses which have never had to contribute to the development of this Country, except to exploit its resources, would resist such changes; and which better way to use the media, to label the driver of such changes, dangerous and a threat to democracy. The Government has started, through PPADB, implementing Codes of Good Practice by Companies to ensure that big business support SMMES in Botswana and contribute to citizen empowerment and economic growth. Khama was the first President of this Country to tackle this problem head-on, and for people who have been scheming this Economy for decades, and the natives, who are occasionally thrown leftovers, this is a threat to our democracy. To them, democracy entails exploiting Batswana with impunity, after all this has been going on for years, and who is Ian Khama to think that HE CAN CHANGE ANYTHING. 4: Citizen Economic Empowerment This is another area where Khama has proven very unpopular to some. I have argued in the past that “Citizen Empowerment should be an integrated and coherent socio-economic process that directly contributes to the economic transformation of Botswana and brings about significant increases in the number of citizens that manage, own and control the country’s economy, as well as significant decreases in income inequalities”. Khama clearly understands and appreciates that Citizen economic empowerment should be an integral part of sustained economic growth. For the privatization programme to be sustainable and beneficial to Batswana, Khama insists that government should come with a scheme that will ensure that Batswana participate and benefit from the privatisation process.
Now for all those who always understood the privatization programme to mean another opportunity for them to hemorrhage State Assets, this turn of events is very SAD indeed, and the person coming with all these changes, Khama, is NOT good for our democracy. Motsogapele ga ane are ya rona le bana ba rona he did not mean this!! Nowadays a 30% Alcohol Levy is said to be a serious threat to our democracy and a good sign of a military dictatorship; Even BOCCIM believes that. BOCCIM instead of helping their members on strategies to address the current global economic crisis and ways to invest in the SADC region, are busy complaining about the Alcohol levy, each time they meet the President.
Could it be the case that some influential people have seen their shares at Sechaba decline as a result of the levy, and are exerting a lot of pressure? We are told that the Country is just about to collapse under our feet because of this levy.
This is a big joke!
Kgalagadi breweries are making huge profits. They have just given BDP over P1m and BNF P500, 000 for the elections. Even Themba Joina with 13 supporters got something and all this flies in the face of BOCCIM. Recently President Khama asked BOCCIM to state what it is that they were doing about the escalating food prices in this country. Food prices in this country have risen over 40% (more than alcohol prices) in the past 12 months; this is in spite of a huge decline in petrol prices. What did BOCCIM say to the President, Nothing. And my suspicion is BOCCIM knows very well that consumers are exploited by some chain stores and wholesalers, but the problem is that some of the owners of these chain stores are influential members.
After the BDP Congress then What? The world economy is facing a protracted and severe economic slowdown. Many indicators of ‘real’ economic activity are at multi-decade lows, and still falling; and this has resulted in Botswana facing the worst economic recession since Independence.
In fact, had the Government not acted, through increased Government spending on major projects such as infrastructure, roads, schools, health facilities, Power station, Airport upgrades, dams etc. there’s nothing that would have stopped the economy’s downward momentum.
That would have led to rising unemployment which would result in further cuts in consumer spending. Weak consumer spending would lead to cutbacks in business investment plans. And the weakening economy will lead to more job cuts, provoking a further cycle of contraction; and a serious crisis for the Government in the Future.
To me, the expansionary fiscal stimulus was never ever populism by the President, but a very prudent strategy to respond to this crisis. All these are good intentions to pull the economy out of a recession through maintenance and creation of sustainable jobs and most importantly and A LONG TERM INVESTMENT IN THE ECONOMY. For me, the Global Economic crises and other challenges I stated above, are more important than what happened in Kanye. Whether Kwelagobe or Mma Seretse is Chairperson of the BDP, these serious challenges will be with us for years to come.
Of course, they are clearly those who pray-some 5 times a day- that what happens in Kanye helps put a stop to all that Khama has been trying to do to address issues of poverty and marginalization of majority of Batswana in this economy.
The President should not be derailed in his agenda.
I think it will be myopic of anyone to seriously think that what happened in Kanye should change the way the country is run.
*Dr. Botswiri Oupa Tsheko is a Senior Economics Lecturer at the University of Botswana
