Sello Motseta
9th April 2020
A defiant leader of the opposition and also Deputy leader of the Umbrella for Democratic Change(UDC) has accused State President Mookgweetsi Masisi of using the corona virus crises affecting the country to declare a state of emergency and to create economic opportunities for members of his family.
He also maintained that the hurriedly assembled parliamentary meeting to discuss the implementation of a state of emergency was ironically not used to explain reasons why a 6 month state of emergency was necessary insisting that there were other options on table ruling party refused to consider.
Dumelang Saleshando, who is also President of Botswana Congress Party(BCP), however stressed that it was necessary to heed the advice of health professional to prevent the escalation in local transmission.
“We must reduce the movement of people, listen to health workers and wash our hands regularly,” conceded a visibly irritated Saleshando.
He however averred that they had come to parliament hoping to get an informed understanding of why the President believed asking parliament to approve a state of Public Emergency for 6 month was the only way to address the challenges created by the spread and proliferation of corona virus.
Saleshando insisted as the commander in chief of the armed forces President Masisi could compel the members of the armed forces to patrol the streets without asking for draconian powers. He also insisted that the argument raised by government that it needed to secure medical supplies and personal protective equipment was false because the PPADB Act allowed procurement in extraordinary circumstances without going through the normal procurement and tendering processes.
He also insisted that bye elections could be postphoned without calling for a state of emergency.
“Reasons for the declaration of the state of emergency did not come out during deliberations. They will emerge during the course of time,” vowed Saleshando.
The ruling Botswana Democratic Party(BDP) was accused of abusing their voting majority in the National Assembly to reject any proposals by the opposition despite its willingness to make compromises in the interests of the country given that everyone was affected by the current crises.
Initially the opposition had proposed that President used the same modus operandi used previously of declaring states of emergency for a 28 day period and renewing if it became clear that the period was not sufficient given ongoing mitigation efforts. These renewals if needs could cover a 6 month period. Saleshando maintained it was not clear health officials asked for 6 months state of emergency.
“They want something from this state of emergency,” charged Saleshando. He said, “We decided to leave them and allow them to do whatever they want.”
Saleshando said it was not clear what Government will do with P2billion allocated for the COVID-19 relief fund. Opposition legislators allegedly hoped Masisi would reveal his plan to deal with crises.
“We leave not knowing what the plan is,” said Saleshando.
Saleshando however insisted that he had concrete information that looting of state coffers had already begun with tenders given to members of Masisi’s family. This included his elder brother who was allegedly given tender without any process and which was not publicized.
He availed information to the speaker of the National Assembly Phandu Skelemani, for verification. It is not clear what will happen if the information is corroborated but it could become a political quagmire.
Saleshando also expressed concern at the exposure of parliamentarians to corona virus after it emerged that a nurse working at isolation clinic in block 8 was found to be positive with virus.
The nurse from the Ministry of Health and Wellness(MOHW) was at the special sitting of Parliament at Fairgrounds, helping to sanitize the MP’s with alcohol based sanitizer to prevent spread of corona virus. Health officials also advised that the delay in concluding heated discussions exposed MP’s to the virus imploring them to conclude deliberations expeditiously.
Although MP’s was subsequently placed under quarantine some were seen flouting quarantine rules shopping at Choppies Super Store at west gate mall near Botswana Television(BTV). They were subsequently placed under supervised quarantine by health officials.
Mpho Balopi, Secretary General of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party(BDP), said “We want to focus on what we are going to do to ensure everyone has something to eat.”
He said, “We have never violated laws of this country.”
Ruling party officials revealed that food packages will be availed for vulnerable groups and employees will not be retrenched. However employees at private companies are struggling to travel to work and often travel long distances on foot to work to avoid having their meager salaries cut.
Slumber Tsogwane, Vice President of Botswana, said the Public Health Act initially used to declare a state of emergency had a number of shortcomings. He insisted that parliament settled for 6 months because 28 days employed was not sufficient and would not be enough to overcome virus.
“Based on experiences of countries with better health systems we needed more time,” said Tsogwane. He said, “We need to sacrifice some of our rights.”
Tsogwane insisted that President was not seeking unilateral powers and had no intention of ruling the country alone. He said ruling party was not playing games and was intent on combating corona virus.
A special audit of COVID-19, will allegedly going to be done after corona virus had been defeated. It was also revealed private companies have been advised against firing employees because of virus.
VAT payments will apparently be deferred by year to ease pressure on hard hit companies. Botswana’s testing capacity is reportedly improving and the media has been classified as an essential service to guard against the arbitrary abuse of power and to ensure that various arms of government are compliant with relevant regulatory provisions as contained in the constitution.
