Khama allays privatisation fears
President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has dispelled fears that privatisation of state enterprises may result in unaffordable and poor quality services.
The President was responding to concerns raised by residents of Lentsweletau at a kgotla meeting on Thursday. They had stated that private companies were only interested in profits and will charge fees beyond the reach of an ordinary Motswana.
However, the President assured the residents that the privatisation process would be conducted carefully to ensure no one is hurt.
“Government treads with care when pursuing privatisation and safeguards national interests” he said, adding “that is why government stopped the privatisation of Air Botswana because something went wrong from the start”.
President Khama told the gathering that, “if we privatise, we ensure that majority of the shareholding goes to Batswana.” He said though privatisation is in progress, the state continues to maintain its presence in corporations such as the Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, Botswana Power Corporation and Water Utilities Corporation, to influence pricing and provision of affordable and quality services to Batswana.
“We will carry out privatisation step by step and ensure that the interests of Batswana are taken into account in the process” he told the residents.
He said he was aware that private companies were driven by the quest to make huge profits but government would not allow that to happen at the expense of Batswana.
The President, who was on a one day tour of villages: Kweneng, Medie and Lentsweletau rounded his tour by spending early hours of the evening at Kopong kgotla where residents recited the history of their village.
The President pleaded with the residents to bear with the government on some unfulfilled promises because of the global economic crisis saying since Botswana is a diamond dependent economy, the country has been hit harder.
He explained that even the world’s biggest economies of China and the United States that are a market for Botswana diamonds have experienced massive retrenchments.
Residents of the four villages expressed displeasure at the long distances they have to travel to Molepolole and Gaborone to get services such as applying for loans or business permits.
But the Kweneng District Council Secretary, Mr Mpedi Koontse assured them that their problems would be sorted out once additional sub-districts are established in Kweneng District.
Mr Koontse said by the next financial year, the proposed sub districts of Thamaga, Lentsweletau and Mogoditshane will be functional and are expected to ease the long distances they have to travel in search of services.
On health issues, the council secretary said Lentsweletau has been without enough doctors for a long time because there was no accommodation but since accommodation has been found the doctor will soon start work.
At Medie, the President heard that the bogosi dispute that has been simmering for a long time at the village has at last been put to rest as the Minister of Local Government has chosen Mr Moatlhodi Kgabo to be the kgosi. And Kweneng residents were encouraged to desist from selling the livestock they acquire through the Remote Area Development Programme.
Mr Koontse said it was pathetic that residents of that village even go to the extent of selling fields allocated to them even though they are expected to earn a decent living for themselves out of that land.
He said selling land and livestock defeated government efforts to empower them.
In Kopong, the residents complained of little consultation by the land board on the expansion of Gaborone.
They said though the national settlement policy allowed every Motswana to settle anywhere in the country, they were at a disadvantage because they have to compete with Gaborone for land.
The President however told them that he has instructed the land boards adjacent to Gaborone to be careful when allocating land and give priority to residents of the affected areas when allocating land.