April 4 2010: For well over two years now, the President and his ministers have been singing a mantra that we should all tighten our belts because the economy is going through a rough patch.
That is all good and well because diamonds which are our economy’s mainstay have literally bankrolled the country.
While we have no problem with the song of belt tightening, which has seen many of some of national projects being deferred, some postponed and more being cancelled, we are worried that the choir masters do not seem themselves to be wearing any belts.
It would be much easier for the President and his ministers to convince the nation about the sincerity of their belt-tightening hit song if they too were dancing to the same tune. That unfortunately is not what is happening on the ground.
Recently, the Minister of Lands and Housing Nonofo Molefhi told Parliament that government has spent over P 40 million to construct eight ministerial houses for cabinet ministers.
A further P40 million is expected to be spent on another batch.
In total, P80 million will be spent to construct 16 ministerial houses, which means that it costs the taxpayer P5 million to build a house for a cabinet minister.
This is in addition to the recently purchased luxury BMWs and station wagons for cabinet ministers.
While the nation is going through an economic crisis, we have politicians who are being treated like they are an endangered species.
For himself, President Ian Khama has bought the top of the range bombardier jet worth over P500 million.
He has had his official residence renovated at a cost of over P18 million.
His pet project, the Directorate on Intelligence and Security, has just received a hefty P 200 million, with no information forthcoming as to what the money will be used for. No audit is expected on the agency.
When presenting the 2010/11 budget, under the theme “transforming our economy after the crisis:2010 and beyond”, Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo warned that Botswana was badly affected by the economic meltdown, and subsequently lost a lot of income as demand for her luxury goods, especially diamonds, plummeted.
He further said that government and the private sector should work together to transform the national economy into one which is globally competitive, more diversified and more resilient to external shocks.
“To do so, we need to thoroughly examine the way we have been doing our business. We need to accept that today’s challenges require a new set of solutions and strategies, and be prepared to let go of old practices that no longer yield good results. We must find innovative solutions that are consistent with the changed environment. It is for this reason that my Ministry, in collaboration with the World Bank, undertook a public expenditure review last year,” he said.
From official expenditure meant to enhance the life comforts of his colleagues in cabinet, there does not seem to have been any change.
For them its business as usual!
Matambo also advised government to exercise caution in borrowing and in the use of accumulated cash reserves to finance development initiatives.
“Every project must more than pay for itself, in terms of current and future benefit, to justify the extra cost of borrowing,” he said.
These are dire warnings from a seasoned administrator, but are his colleagues listening?
We do not think so.
We had hoped that as national leaders, the president and the cabinet ministers would be at the forefront of the drive to cut expenditure. In fact, it will bode well for them to forgo some of the luxuries that they enjoy, at the tax payers expense, at least for the sake of this country.
We are aware that members of parliament used to enjoy thousands of Pula as housing allowances while they refused to stay in the parliamentary flats that were built for them. It was through President Khama’s intervention that MPs were literally forced to stay in their flats.
For that we commend the president.
Up until recently, cabinet ministers were paid as much as P12 -15 000 per month as housing allowances for staying in their houses.
Official houses will hopefully bring this reckless exorbitance to an end.
And for that we also commend the President for coming up with the idea of building ministerial houses that are commensurate with the responsibilities and positions of cabinet ministers.
Our problem though is with the price tag.
It is our contention that P5 million for a ministerial house is just too much, especially in these trying times. Legislators and cabinet ministers are public leaders and they should be exemplary. It is wrong for the president and his cabinet to preach cost cutting when they do not do the same. It is unfair for the president and his cabinet to shelve a number of essential public development projects because of monetary constraints, and not exercise financial prudence and austerity when it comes to projects from which they will benefit personally.
We have also observed a worrying development in our national leadership. In these times of economic hardships our leaders should be flexible enough even if it means going back on their pet projects.
President Khama’s constituency league is a case in point. Maybe in another era under different financial circumstances, the constituency league would be a popular success. But the fact is that these are hard times. Government cannot afford to turn a deaf ear to calls for the constituency league to be scrapped.
There are more pressing issues that need to be taken care of like, for example, ensuring that we develop our human resources capital to be globally competitive.
