Let's brace for the harshest of times

You might have thought that the Russia-Ukraine war was far removed from our shores, but now with the food shortages hitting Europe, and the likelihood of the spill-over reaching us, you might want to think again!

Already food prices have skyrocketed. Just two tomatoes and you part with a cool P20! Add to this misery the price of fuel and you know we have a disaster in our midst. So how do we get out of the rut, given that we are so used to buying? We hardly produce anything for ourselves. The food on our plates is imported from outside, even from as far as Europe. In fact, we have seen how some African countries are completely dependent on Russia for their wheat needs! Now imagine asking such a country to vote for the expulsion of Russia from the Human Rights Council at the United Nations! That is complete madness! Then again, most African countries that fought wars of liberation remember how Russia stood by their side when some of these Western powers were calling them ‘terrorists’! But that is beside the point! My point of departure is that we need an escape route and a quick one for that matter! If we are going to survive the triple menace of Covid-19 aftermaths; Russia/Ukraine war and the impending drought – we must at the earliest think of producing our own food. I spoke to one gentleman, a think tank if you may – Oduetse Mphahudi of Modika Polytechnic. Now, this is the man who has the answers to our food security challenge. He reckons that every household, every school across their levels; every municipality; every government and private sector office – must start growing vegetables in whatever space they find. As for water shortage, he reckons that every household and office must start a water harvesting scheme, to make the best use of the rainwater whenever it rains. Those who can dig holes and line them with plastic bags to use as water storage facilities are encouraged to do so. These can be replicated throughout the country. The next step is for the government and companies to donate seeds or seedlings to everybody so that we begin growing these veggies on a large scale. The students at primary to tertiary schools will be assisted by expert students from the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN). Let’s all try this to avoid the impending catastrophe! Everybody needs food – rich or poor, wise or foolish we all need to eat. This should be our number one priority – to make our own food. We can no longer be looking to our neighbours. They have their own needs as well. When hit with a food deficit, Europe will hoard whatever little it has for its own people. Likewise, South Africa will do the same when Europe emerges from the doldrums – it will look after its own before it considers the needs of its neighbours. That is why a wise man thinks first about food self-sufficiency or food security before anything else! All these other needs are secondary!

MERGER OF PARASTATALS

According to Sunday Standard, Cabinet has approved the merger of quite a number of parastatals whose mandates either overlap or are similar. This is a good step in trying to fix the bloated public service wage bill, but then it has negative effects on job losses. But truth be told, we have way too many state-owned enterprises that do one and the same thing! Take the Local Enterprises Authority (LEA) and Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) as well as the National Development Bank (NDB) for example. These practically offer the same services and would be better off collapsed into one. There are many others – the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) and the Special Economic Zones Authority SEZA) as well as the Botswana Trade Commission and the Selibe Phikwe Economic Development Unit (SPEDU) – all these have basically the same mandates and must be merged

The only issue is how to handle the job losses that will naturally follow! Obviously, two or three parastatals that will emerge from the restructuring of say, eight parastatals, cannot absorb the masses of the people that will be rendered redundant. I remember how painful it was when the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) was merged with the Botswana Enterprises Development and Investment Agency (BEDIA) to create what we today know as the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC). There are political as well as economic considerations that are taken into account when the position of chief executive officer of the resultant parastatal is decided. In the case of BITC, economic imperatives were the deciding factor. You will remember that BEDIA has had big names such as Mmasekgoa MasireMwamba and Jacob Nkate leading it, but because the idea at President Festus Mogae’s time was to develop Botswana as a financial services hub of the region, it was decided that the then chief executive of IFSC, Alan Boswaen would lead the resultant organisation. And later when the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) was created, Boswaen was moved there to pave the way for yet another brilliant mind, Letsebe Sejoe, whose contract would later, in a controversial turn of events, not be renewed. The then minister was at the centre of that controversy as he was said to have coerced the BITC Board of Directors not to renew Sejoe’s contract. Anyways, Keletsositse Olebile has since not disappointed, pulling off moneyspinning investment ventures during his tenure. There is a good chance that when the parastatals under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) are finally merged, Olebile will emerge among the Chief Executive Officers that will survive the axe!