10 Dec 2024

The ban on the importation of vegetables should not be lifted yet, says Moshupa-Manyana Member of Parliament, Mr Karabo Gare.

The MP,  who was contributing to the ongoing debate on the State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), told Parliament on Monday that although the ban was a temporary measure, he supported its continuation because it was introduced to spur the fledgling local horticulture sector, to enable it to be competitive since it was being suffocated by imports.

MP Gare said it was not the first time that government closed the borders to protect the local industry, the same was previously done for the poultry sector.

Through the ban, Mr Gare said the local horticulture sector started showing signs of improvement and producers could afford to service their loans, an obligation that most of them could not fulfil prior to the ban.

The ban was introduced to also drive the country towards attaining food sufficiency as well as grow the local industry with an aim to start value chain development, Mr Gare said and explained that a value chain industry that relied on importing raw materials would be expensive.

Like any intervention, the vegetable ban experienced teething problems but the farming community experienced some benefits, MP Gare said.

Still on agriculture, Mr Gare said he was pleased that the new government had decided to continue with Temo Letlotlo and Maja-A-Ikgorosa programmes that the previous administration conceived to address the challenges faced by farmers, noting that if anything, the government should improve them. On other issues, Mr Gare said he was in support of a forensic audit because it would clear suspicions of wrong doings by the previous government as well as exonerate former ministers.

He said the Botswana Democratic Party had ruled the country for 58 years and was led by five former presidents and therefore, hoped the exercise would not be selective.

Also, Mr Gare said there were in the past Parliament questions on suspicion of corruption which were not answered, and said the audit would help to clear the matters.

He further said that he hoped the review of the Development Manager model would not result in denial of services to Batswana.

Mr Gare said that the narrative that Moshupa benefited more developments than other areas was not true.

He gave an example of Moshupa Hospital which he said had been in the pipeline for the past 20 years while the street lights were done through the Constituency Development Funds.

Debating SONA, Kgatleng Central MP, Mr Mpho Morolong said although a big village, Mochudi was underdeveloped and the village needed among others, storm water drainage system, taxi and bus rank, a library, stadium, potable water as well as residential and civic plots allocations.

Also, he said Pilane Landfill had outlived its lifespan and had now turned into a public eye sow due to frequent fire outbreaks.

Mr Morolong said time had come for the district council leadership to be elevated to the level of executive mayors and have the position of speaker.

He said currently, the council chairpersons could not openly advocate for developments of their respective ward as they were to be impartial.

Also, Mr Morolong spoke of the need to respect time by all, at both formal and informal gatherings because lack thereof was visible across various spectrums of the economy, such as failure to complete public projects within time and budget and starting meetings late.

He said the country could only grow the economy if it realised the value of time, and which he wished would be addressed in the first 100 days.

MP Morolong said Bakgatla ba-ga-Kgafela were still haunted by the persistent absence of their kgosikgolo from the country, adding that his safety and security was a concern. ENDS