BDP backbench breaks rank with executive
Says Bill goes against empowerment of indigenous citizens Opposes Bill on Economic Inclusion
Botswana Democratic Party ( BDP) MPs this week broke ranks with the party as some rejected the Economic Inclusion Bill on grounds that it goes against their understanding of citizen economic empowerment.
While the party caucus decisions are binding on all members, the MPs rejected the second reading of the Bill on Tuesday following the party caucus meeting where the tabling of the Bill was discussed.
The Bill which was tabled by the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Mmusi Kgafela seeks to establish the Economic Inclusion Office with the primary mandate of promoting effective participation of the targeted citizens in economic growth and development.
Kgafela told Parliament that following the evaluation of the CEE Policy in 2018, there has been increased advocacy for the enactment of a Citizen Economic Empowerment Legislation. He said the request to draft the Citizen Economic Empowerment ( CEE) Law was approved in August 2019.
“As defined in the Constitution ( the CEE Policy) defeats the objectives of the promulgation of the CEE Law, whose main purpose is to ensure economic inclusion and meaningful participation of targeted citizens in the development and growth of the economy.
“Hence proposal to name the law, the Economic Inclusion Law, and to define “Targeted Citizen” as a person whose economic resources have been constrained due to various factors as may be determined ( such as gender, educational background, economic status, disability, and age) and other thresholds,” Kgafela stated.
Botswana Guardian established that the BDP backbench decided to vote against the Bill following the briefing about the Bill by the minister during the party’s Parliamentary Caucus meeting on Tuesday.
The argument by the MPs was that “Targeted Citizen” is broad and should be narrowed to “indigenous citizen”.
The MPs were of the view that with “Targeted Citizen” the law will open room for abuse by those at the helm including the Coordinator. Another bone of contention was giving powers to the Coordinator to decide who qualifies.
Sources revealed that the stand taken by the backbench during voting to oppose the Bill to be read the second time was a decision taken collectively as a way of registering their displeasure at how Cabinet runs the affairs of the party.
The MPs are not happy that the Minister always wants the backbench to support each and every piece of legislation even the ones that disadvantage the electorate.
The MPs have allegedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the explanation given by Kgafela and Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Dumedzweni Mthimkhulu regarding the rationale behind the “Targeted Citizens”.
The MPs believe the new law would not be correcting many anomalies in the empowerment of citizens. It is believed that the drafters need to revisit the law and incorporate key issues left out, as approving the Bill in the current form has far- reaching consequences for Batswana.
While some of the backbench members were not available during voting those in attendance voted against the Bill except for Chief Whip
Liakat Kably and former Minister and SpeciallyElected MP, Dr. Unity Dow.
MP for Shoshong Aubrey Lesaso supported the Bill while MP for Thamaga- Kumakwane Palelo Motaosane abstained from voting.
The Bill was supported by 28 members, 22 voted against it while 12 were absent and only one abstained.
Minister Kgafela said it will not be wise to say indigenous Batswana as then the law will be discriminatory.
“If someone has married a foreigner, let us say from Zimbabwe and the husband dies, if the person falls within the threshold to be assisted, he or she has to be assisted, so is the person who is not a Motswana but has been adopted.
“Whether you are a Zimbabwean or an Indian you have to benefit as long as you are a citizen of this country. What honourable members are not telling us is how indigenous will be disadvantaged as compared to foreigners.
“Numerically we know that we have many indigenous citizens who will fall within the threshold as compared to foreigners,” Kgafela said.
The Minister said the Coordinator will determine the targeted people. He said the law will assist his ministry with coming up with suitable programmes and schemes. Kgafela explained that Government has in the past put in place a number of initiatives strategies and programmes, including among others, Localisation Policy, Reservation Policy, and Preferences under Public Procurement.
“In 2012, the Citizen Economic Empowerment Policy was approved. This policy sought to, among other things, promote citizen participation in the development and growth of the economy, promote social cohesion and harmony, maximise potential in human capital residing in Botswana as well as address both absolute and relative poverty.
“However, the evaluation of the Citizen Economic Empowerment ( CEE) Policy in 2018 revealed that implementation of citizen empowerment initiatives has remained inadequate; and its success was minimal due to challenges with regards to coordination and lack of enforcement of existing laws which cut across different sectors,” Kgafela said.