01 Jul 2024

Sir Seretse Khama has been hailed for his foresight and distinctive policy choices that worked well for nation building, which is evident among others in the formulation of the Mines and Minerals Act of 1969 . 

The Act required that all minerals should be part of the national wealth, therefore, should be used to indiscriminately improve people’s livelihoods.

This was said by the Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane, who was speaking on behalf of President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi during the commemoration of Sir Seretse Khama day in Gaborone yesterday.

He said the Act ensured that all such findings were seceded to and vested in the authority of the state, which was also bestowed with the duty to use revenue accrued from such to benefit the nation equally.

“This was a critical nation building decision that we are still to this day proud of as a people, and this arrangement is credited to having saved Botswana from suffering the afflictions of the tensions and conflicts often associated with claims of property rights over land parcels with mineral deposits,” he said.

Mr Tsogwane said such wisdom by Sir Seretse and his team ensured that Botswana’s minerals constituted the common wealth of citizens, thus avoiding any misfortune of a resource-cursed nation.

He said the benefits of the development trajectory of this framework were evident in the many achievement in infrastructure development such as road networks, hospitals, clinics, energy and water utilities as well as a host of other social services.

Mr Tsogwane said this arrangement was further reflected in the associated choice of entering into a partnership with one of the world’s foremost diamond mining companies in De Beers to create Debswana, which he said also demonstrated foresight.

“The benefits of that partnership are evident, but with hindsight, such benefits could have been far much better if the architecture of this foundational mining contract end-sales agreement of diamond production had been premised on fairness of returns for the two parties,” he said.

Mr Tsogwane said on that, Botswana has learnt its lessons to jealously guard its national interests, which he said spoke to the latest development in re-negotiating the agreement by President Masisi.

He said the new contract will ensure that the country was no longer taken advantage of in the exploitation of its mineral wealth by contracting in relationships that do not involve the country in equally beneficial downstream activities.

Mr Tsogwane thus said it should be the responsibility of the whole mineral rich Africa to ensure that minerals and other natural resources benefited the continent’s development agenda. He said Botswana could now stand and see far into the future because of most foundations laid by Sir Seretse, such as educational and health services provided from the benefits of minerals.

The Vice President said Dr Masisi’s administration was also determined to ensure that the forthright and good socio-economic policy choices made during Sir Seretse’s leadership shall continue to be made in the new and transformational efforts of Botswana that present an opportunity for achieving prosperity for all.

Such had informed policies such as the Reset and Reclaim agenda, which he said formed just part of an array of other interventions that would ensure that the nation rode the momentum of a transformation it desired. Ends