04 Mar 2025

Following change of government, Batswana want a comprehensive package of reforms based on a firm commitment to meritocracy, accountability and innovation, says the Minister for State President, Mr Moeti Mohwasa.

He said the call was to restore trust and good governance, revitalising the economy and attracting investment as well as promoting equity through provision of social infrastructure.

He was speaking during  presentation of the ministry’s budget estimates for the financial year 2025/26. Mr Mohwasa therefore, proposed a recurrent budget of  over P12 billion and an additional amount of over P3 billion for development budget.

On the implementation of policies and programmes, Mr Mohwasa said following the 2018 negotiations on salaries and conditions of service, the government and recognised trade unions agreed to review the current salary structure and adopted a new overlapping, fan-shaped salary structure.

He said development of the new salary structure was at its final stage with implementation planned for April 2025. However, Mr Mohwasa said such would come with significant financial implications.

“The cost of implementing the fan-shaped salary structure including arrears for employees in grades A-D from April 2023 is estimated at an additional P220 million to the current wage bill of over P37 billion,” he said.

Mr Mohwasa said the goal of the initiative was to improve overall organisational effectiveness, streamline processes, enhance employee empowerment and customer satisfaction and increase transparency and accountability of government services in line with the national vision for high productivity, innovation and competitiveness.

He also said Parliament passed and approved the Persons with Disability Act of 2024 promoting the equal rights of persons with disability in its entirety.

As an immediate act, Mr Mohwasa said sectors were required to develop and implement inclusive policies and programmes in line with the Act’s objectives.

Minister Mohwasa said Botswana’s performance in corruption perception remained relatively good, even though experiencing a drop in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index, ranking 39th globally and third in Africa.

Despite the efforts, he said there were growing concerns over the effectiveness of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime on dealing with corruption in the country as well as delays in dispensing cases.

The minister said the creative sector had potential to empower Batswana to showcase talent and compete both locally and in the international arena.

He said the budget aimed to provide sustainable support for the cultural and creative industries as a means of diversifying the economy.

On the recurrent budget, he said the Drug Enforcement Agency would get a proposed amount of over P60 million while Chemical, Biological, Nuclear and Radiation Protection Management Authority would receive a share of over P39 million.

He said an amount of P5 million was requested for Motlamedi Disaster Emergency Fund for the purpose of responding to mass casualty victims by providing financial assistance and benefits in kind to affected citizens.

On the development budget, Mr Mohwasa said over P257 million would be allocated to vehicles, defence and communication equipment at the Botswana Defence Force while for Directorate of Intelligence and Security, the minister requested P230 million for the implementation of various projects.

Mr Mohwasa said an amount of P181 853 660 was required for the facilitation of the creative industry programme as well as infrastructure development for radio and television project under at the Department of Broadcasting Services.

Through the programme, Mohwasa said government was committed to providing state of the art infrastructure to empower youth, foster creativity and create jobs through partnerships with stakeholders from both business and communities. ENDS