26 Mar 2025

President Advocate Duma Boko says there is critical need for robust delivertation in Parliament.

 He said it was important to present questions and suggest solutions.

Debating during the budget proposal for the Ministry of Minerals and Energy on Monday, he said he came to appreciate deliberations in Parliament. 

“Lefatshe le ke la rona rotlhe betsho, le na le boikarabelo jo bo tshwanang le jwame, mme a re tleng re ipapanne ka mabaka a utlwalang,” said President Boko, reminding legislators  to come up thougtful  and well-researched ideas.

President told legislators  to understand existing government policies. 

He  said  the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) had made certain pronouncements about its vision, which were admirably clear,  precise and able to appeal to the electorate.

However, he said it was worth appreciating that some electorates might have different views. 

He said when the UDC came into power, its vision, precise and clear as it might have been, it had not replaced existing policies until it was mainstreamed either into law or into policy.

President Boko said the flippant accusations of ‘you promised to do this and you were not doing it,’ were misplaced because they conflated the precise and clear vision of the UDC with the practical truth of what existed as a fact.

He said it was criticism without justification. He said they were accused of being too slow but said it was important to understand the why part as there was no definite template but multiple pathways to achieve the set vision.

President Boko said there were layers and levels of consultation, which involved the public service and business community as well as transforming the entire government.

He said there was nothing wrong with setting the agenda straight in order to achieve one’s vision.

“As a leader, what you have promised may not be attainable looking at the challenges at hand, therefore when such a situation arrives, one must be in a position to face the truth, face the nation head-on and give them the truth,” President Boko said.

He said the nation was able to see, listen, learn and understand before making judgements.

President Boko said it was important to look at the issue differently in order to achieve one’s mandate. 

He said the UDC wanted to establish an export-led economy and one of the things investors were looking for was the capability for them to transport product from pit to pot.

“Our road networks cannot transport bulk material. One of the pivotal points for the economy is to look at rail network development,” he said. 

He noted that the rail infrastructure had crumbled and was worsened by the recent rains, therefore calling for climate resilient infrastructure.

“We cannot move to export before addressing the issue and cannot place reliance on road transport only,” he said.

He said it was important to intensify relations with neighbouring countries in order to achieve all what was needed to drive exportation and lure investors into the country.

President Boko also said it was difficult or almost impossible to raise funds for projects that were not advocating for green technology even though vital to driving the economy.

He said in most cases, the country did not have the necessary resources and funding and had to move outside to look for such and make a case in order to get such investment.

President Boko said it was important to appreciate the bottlenecks at hand. ENDS