MCST claims Batswana graduates do not want to take up jobs due to the low pay offered by government. The truth is the DIT prefers an expatriate workforce and when they are hired, MCST look after them. One particular Expatriate Project Managers at the Ministry of Finance is earning in excess of P52, 500 a month.
The Multi-Million Pula Maitlhamo e-government project which was revealed to Parliament recently is now firmly driven and led by a strong expatriate force dominated by Asian expatriates whose only mission is to advance the interests of their countrymen. The irony is that it is a Motswana government director that has appointed each one of them, overlooking indigenous potential.
Its not surprising that MPs from across the political divide reason that civil servants are responsible for the decline of citizen empowerment. I couldn't agree more. In the ICT sector, it is the usual foreign owned suspects that get awarded tenders. These civil servants who betray their own people are part of a well organized business plan to defraud Government. They ensure that lucrative deals are awarded whilst in office then they tender resignations to take up senior positions with these businesses. We have seen (ex)-ministers appointed to boards and recently an ex-deputy PS became a member of this elite club of the privileged. Some people in the industry are even convinced that certain tenders are written for them.
We are now pinning our hopes on the President with the hope that he can correct this anomaly and inconsistency. This is definitely not citizen empowerment. The time has come for Botswana to start building local capacity instead of enriching greedy ex-civil servants and ex-cabinet ministers. There is nothing wrong with politicians or civil servants getting into business. One must however, question the logic of a foreign company's decision to appoint to its board of directors a politician or ex-civil servants whose only ticket is a political connection and residual classified knowledge or as a reward for services rendered over the years whilst in office.
The problem with citizen empowerment is not with the expatriates. They are simply exploiting slack and sloppiness on the part of the director and the PS. The issue is with Batswana themselves. So ultimately it must be for the directors, PS, DPSM, Labour Ministry and eventually cabinet to rise to the occasion. Our government should take lessons from Debswana Diamond Company which has turned itself around and appointed a growing number of Batswana in key technical positions previously led by foreigners.
Directors in government should not be ashamed to actively support fellow Batswana businesses. What is the logic behind preferential treatment for a naturalized Motswana who is already a millionaire? Why enrich and empower someone who is already wealthy and empowered? Lastly, let me point out that I am by no means hostile or unwelcoming to our foreign investors, but rather wish to see government regulating what has now become an exploitation of the warm business hospitality that we have extended to our investors. Distribution of wealth among indigenous citizens will curb a perception that Batswana are growing increasingly xenophobic and that government is putting foreign-owned businesses first.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Fraser Pule
Quelle/Source: AllAfrica, 05.09.2006
