Kanye North Member of Parliament, Honourable Thapelo Letsholo is a worried man. He is worried by the way at which the government is being run.
According to the legislator, if things continue being run the way they are currently, then future generations will be handed over a country that is “less attractive”.
“It is particularly notable that our new loan from the World Bank is a loan to prop up the Government budget. To the best of my knowledge, this has never happened before. In the past, we borrowed for projects like roads or dams. This time, and for the first time, we are borrowing just to make ends meet. In other words, a “no mathata loan” for Government. This is unprecedented and very worrying. If we do not get this right, we will hand over to the next generation a country that is poorer, more indebted, less resilient, less attractive, and with declining revenues amid undesirable assets like coal. That would be a real shame. We are on the brink of being the first generation to do that. Painful, but factual.” charged Letsholo.
Letsholo is especially worried that the currently running on two (2) sources of income which both are “precarious and increasingly unpredictable”
However, the legislator believes that can be turned around if things can be done differently to address key indicators of unemployment, jobs created, poverty, income inequality, level of household savings versus debt, effective taxes, citizen prosperity, Government revenue, Government costs, return on infrastructure investment, project overuns as well as audit findings and remedial actions.
“These are the measures with which one must measure the progression and inclusiveness of an economy, and as they say, βwhat doesnβt get measured doesnβt get doneβ. said Letsholo.
Letsholo proposes that Botswana Country Scorecard be developed and implemented. The Member of Parliament says the scorecard should include key measures that Batswana strongly care about. The measures that make a difference in their lives, especially those of social and economic concerns, and measures that will set the foundation for not just current but future prosperity. That way, Letsholo believes, the State Of the Nation Address will not only measure inputs, or report on a long list of projects, but will be reporting against this scorecard of possibly ten (10) indicators that capture the quality of life of Batswana.
