There is no doubt that Botswana’s economy, like the rest of the world, is going through a rough patch.
Government budget is going through unprecedented deficits.
As a country, we have had to borrow to our neck just to be able to stay afloat.
Some of the most critical national projects have had to be either deferred or, in some worse instances, cancelled altogether.
Next month, the Minister of Finance will present his budget.
While there are shades of economic recovery, there is not much to hope for except the continuation of the message from last year, which implored all of us to tighten our belts.
The truth of the matter is that, by and large, Botswana remains excessively dependent on diamonds.
And when diamond sales collapse, as they did last year, there is not much else to cling on to as a country.
Already, government has announced that it is cutting back in some areas, including education.
We readily admit that Botswana Government does not and never had much room to manoeuvre.
There simply was no way it was going to be business as usual for the Government.
The mistake has been that in the last few years our public expenditure was predicated on the belief that public finances were going to grow infinitely.
And, as we now know, that was not to be.
Massive capital and, one dare say, not altogether necessary projects were planned for and undertaken. That tended to eat a lot in our reserves.
While we applaud our Government for its foresight in as far as setting aside sizeable revenue from diamonds to be used in these trying times, we are worried at the pace at which the same government seems prepared to cancel some of the most needed assistance it has over the years provided to its own people.
More importantly, we also are worried at the seemingly stealth manner with which such assistance is being withdrawn.
In mind here is the cutting back in expenditure on education.
A few weeks ago the Ministry of Education announced that it was introducing some reforms, all of which are a direct result of the economic downturn that the country faces.
We think reforms are necessary if not inevitable under the circumstances.
But it helps no one to make such critical and far reaching announcements that affect the entire nation at a time when everyone is the middle of the rush and milieu created by the festive season.
Reforms at the Ministry as important as that of Education should be as transparent as possible. There is no need to hide anything because most of the troubles we now have to contend with as a nation are not only above the capacities of Botswana Government, but, more crucially are also not of our making as a nation.
There is no need to be ashamed of anything. If anything we should be proud. And what better way to show that pride than by taking the people along in whatever reforms the Government wishes to introduce!
We must not lose sight of the fact that for a majority of Batswana, the same reasons that compelled government some years ago to introduce free education, namely poverty and want remain in place.
Thus even as a nation we are forced by circumstances beyond our control to reintroduce school fees and cut back on the country’s key welfare regime we should bear in mind that for a majority of Batswana poverty remains a reality.
These are the people we should protect to the hilt, lest the gains we made over the years will be eroded overnight.
As we have often said, poverty is a national security threat that can very easily be exploited by criminal elements that are today a scourge to humanity.
On that score, we think even as the nation is wallowing through these difficult times, a cushion has to be crafted to protect the poor and most vulnerable.
