Botswana Federation of Public, Private & Parastatal Sector Union (BOFEPUSU) Deputy Secretary General- Ketlhalefile Motshegwa has accused the Minister of Land Management, Water and Sanitation- Honourable Kefentse Mzwinila of being short sighted.
Speaking earlier today during a joint press briefing between Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) and Botswana Federation of Public, Private & Parastatal Sector Union (BOFEPUSU), Motshegwa condemned the decision by the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation to repossess plots from those failing to develop them.
“The attitude and approach by the Minister is that of an official far detached from reality and lives of Batswana. We say policy measures and decisions must be considerate of the social circumstances and livlihoods of Batswana in order for such policies to have relevance and effectiveness. The factors to the land question are far deeper than the short sighted approach by the Minister .”Motshegwa asserted.
Motshegwa is of the view that with the land that Botswana has against it’s population, “our policy measures should not be skewed to appear as if there is shortage of land.” Botswana has approximately 581,730 km² of land with a population of 2.304 million according to Motshegwa.
According to Motshegwa Batswana do not fail to develop their plots because they don’t want to develop them, but because of socio-economic issues of which most of the time the Government is to blame. He mentioned the Ministry’s delay to service the land and allocate people, meaning by the time Batswana get those plots, most are either old and unable to develop or are out of employment.
“Unemployment and poverty which are rising, are a hindrance to the economic capacity to develop their plots. This is becoming worse at a time when Government has taken a decision to cut employment by 50%, and with more reforms to be done that will see employees in public service laid off, in private sector there are also massive job losses. Other factors are low minimum wage that is far below the cost of living, poor and uncoordinated policy framework.”
While at it, Motshegwa also urged the government to do more in ensuring the efficacy of the procured vaccines before administering the vaccine on the general public. ” This matter must be considered in the context of pharmaceutical quality assurance, and national security at a time of bio-warfare. This requires us as a Country to have capacity and ability to conduct further laboratory tests on vaccines procured.” he said.
These comes after Minister Mzwinila indicated that his Ministry will fast track the operation of repossessing undeveloped plots; and the reports that the AstraZeneca vaccine has been banned in some countries following health complications.
On a lighter note, Motshegwa announced that BOFEPUSU and BFTU have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding. The Memorandum of Understanding will accord the movements to speak with one voice in interests of employees. On Wednesday 17th March 2021, the agreement will be formalized.
