24 Jul 2024

In its first day of business on Tuesday, the National Assembly supported three Bills, which are now ripe for committee stage.

One of the Bills that the legislators backed was a proposal to amend the Standing Committee on Remuneration of Members of the National Assembly, councillors, Ntlo ya Dikgosi and specified offices.

Presenting the Bill, the Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said the bill desired to remove the wording ‘Specified Offices’ from the Act, indicating that the move was necessitated by Section 122, sub section 1 of the constitution.

“The said section provides that holders of specified offices appointed by the President shall be paid such salaries and allowances as may be prescribed by Parliament,” he said.

Mr Morwaeng said salaries of the said public officers were therefore determined in accordance with the set public office practices and needed not to form part of those catered for by the committees.

Supporting the bill, deputy speaker of the National Assembly, Mr Pono Moatlhodi said the specified officers have long been tagged under the remuneration of politicians, which he said denied them cost of living adjustments when the need arose.

“These officers are civil servants, and just like others, they also deserve to be cushioned against the cost of living, so detaching them from politicians and Dikgosi will be beneficial to them,” said Mr Moatlhodi who is also the MP for Tonota.

Leader of Opposition also MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse also supported the proposal, but advised that there was a need for a former politician to sit in the committee so that they could guide it from experience.

“The committee needs a former politician who better understands the life of a politicians to guide and advice other members. As far as am concerned the only member who is a former MP is Mr Charles Tibone, but he spent most of his time in the executive and might not know first hand the hardships of being an ordinary politician,” he said.

Meanwhile legislators also supported two other Bills, being the Specified Offices (Salaries and Allowances) Amendment Bill as well as the Judicial Services Amendment Bill.

Presenting the former, Mr Morwaeng indicated that its objective was to amend the Specified Offices Salaries and allowances Act in order to give effect to Directive No 4 of 2024, which adjusted public service salaries by 5 per cent across the board with effect from April 1 this year.

For his part, the Minister of Justice, Mr Machana Shamukuni who presented the latter bill said that it was intertwined with Minister Morwaeng’s two Bills, especially the last one.

After support from legislators, Mr Shamukuni, who is an MP for Chobe, said his ministry would speed up the process to ensure that arrears owed to deserving public officers were paid.

Supporting the proposal, Ngami legislator, Mr Caterpillar Hikuama cautioned against paying officers late, saying it led to them being taxed in a lump sum, which he said might affect personal financial planning. ENDS