A study by Afrobarometer has revealed that Botswana’s government performance is in decline and Batswana trust their institutions much less in 2014. Whilst the president and traditional leaders are the most trusted figures in Botswana’s institutions, other bodies are trusted much less including Parliament, the ruling party and opposition parties. Government performance is said to have declined in 2014 compared to previous years when Afrobarometer surveys were conducted in Botswana.
67% of Batswana trust the president in 2014. This represents a 10% drop from 2008. 55% trust parliament, 59% trust the ruling party and 53% trust the local government. Batswana’s trust in traditional leaders is the highest (72%) of all the institutions considered.
The study also found that Botswana’s trust in opposition parties remains low at 37% though it shows a modest increase of 7% from the 2008 survey.
Job performance approval of leaders remains relatively high. Job approval of the president is the highest (79%) followed by traditional leaders (75%), Members of Parliament (56%) and councillors at 53%.
Generally, government performance in handling important matters is in decline. Managing the economy has dropped from 76% in 2008 to 67% in 2012 and a further decline to 64% in the 2014 study. Government performance in addressing education shows a declining trend from 2008 (83%), modest drop in 2012 (82%) and significant decline of 7% in 2014 (70%). Providing water and sanitation shows a dropping trend since 2008 (72%), Government performance dropped to 67% in 2012 survey and further declined to 61% in 2014; Government performance in fighting corruption (53%) shows the most decline of all matters considered, dropping by a significant 16% from 2008; Providing reliable supply of electricity stands at 61%, which is a drop of 5% from 2008.
According to the study, majority of Batswana believe that government is doing well in handling important matters. However, government performance in handling important matters shows a declining trend from previous survey in 2008 and 2012.
Afrobarometer is an African led, non partisan research project that has measured countries social, political and economic atmosphere since 1999. In its sixth survey round (2014-15), it is covering 35 countries. In Botswana, the face to face interviews of 1, 200 adults were done by Star Awards (PTY) Ltd. The study was conducted in June and July this year.