BFTU upset over public finance wastefulness

The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) has expressed concerns over what it terms wasteful expenditure in public finance and as such called for a review of the Constitution to provide tighter controls.

In their recent response to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Review of the Constitution of Botswana report, BFTU said they were worried that wasteful expenditure in public finances has become a culture or a norm.

“BFTU is also concerned about a culture of cost overruns brought about by variations in the scope of work of development projects,” read part of the response.

Government departments have on several occasions been accused of the wastefulness of public funds due to lack of oversight, corruption, and/or negligence in some cases.

Year in and out, the Auditor General’s audit report raises cases of laxity within government ministries and departments, local authorities, Land Boards, and selected parastatals indicating millions of pula are going to waste in the process.

For example, in 2017, Francistown East legislator Buti Billy, then chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Local Government and Social Welfare labelled government-backed poverty eradication initiatives “a total waste of funds”.

According to Billy, a majority of poverty eradication projects have collapsed. In another case in 2020, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) accused the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture of operating a scheme to finance property developers.

This was after the Auditor General uncovered a lapse in the ministry’s procurement which cost the ministry millions in rental fees to property developers for unoccupied offices.

To end some of these cases, BFTU has called on the review of sections 117 to 124 of the Constitution, to provide for tighter controls in public finances and tighter oversight through the Parliamentary Finance and Estimates Committee.

The sections in question deal with all revenues or other monies raised or received for government in the Consolidated Fund and Authorised Expenditure.

BFTU has also recommended that parliamentary committees such as PAC, should be chaired by an Opposition Member of Parliament to avoid possible cover-up and conflict of interest between loyalty to the ruling party and loyalty to Parliament. Furthermore, BFTU demanded that all parliamentary committees should conduct their business in public to enable electorate monitoring and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of Parliament.

Meanwhile, BFTU has recommended that at least five of the members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) should be approved by the National Assembly court.

The present dispensation is such that the President appoints members of the PSC per Section 109 of the Constitution, as such, there is a need to define and demarcate with precision the function, mandate, and jurisdiction of the PSC.

According to BFTU, currently, the Constitution does not define the jurisdiction of

the PSC.