- UDC adamant resources to fulfil election promises are available
- Says improved tax collection will be key to funding job creating projects
- Mohwasa says excessive cost overruns for govt projects fuelled corruption
BONGANI MALUNGA
Tax collection is a key factor that will enable the new government of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) to fulfil its election promise of creating jobs in abundance.
Speaking in a Btv interview recently, the party’s head of communications, Moeti Mohwasa, said tax collection in Botswana has been “sub-par” over the last five years during which influential figures enjoyed preferential terms that have left government coffers in a dire state.
Among “the lowest in Africa”
He asserted that an improvement is urgently needed because Botswana’s level of tax collection in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been among “the lowest in Africa, just like in war-torn countries”.
Mohwasa charged: “A lot of influential people have not been paying tax because they were too close to the system … We have the ability to collect double of what we are collecting at the moment.”
He stated that resources are available to fulfil election pledges of the UDC but emphasised that eliminating tax breaks for the elite will be an important stepping stone to that end.
Party donors
“Some of the elites have not been paying tax because they were funding the Botswana Democratic Party,” he asserted. “The UDC will ensure that when someone is a donor, they will (still) have to comply.
“That money will be useful in road construction, refurbishing and building schools as well as many other development (projects).”
Mohwasa said in addition to preferential tax breaks for the elite, overpaying for government-commissioned projects is another plague that will need urgent attention.
“Unexplained gulf”
He stated the “unexplained gulf” in project costs and increased fund allocation to government projects as a corrupt practice that will no longer be tolerated.
“There was a system whereby the government was overpaying for projects,” he said. “For example, if a project cost P2, it would mysteriously be awarded at P4. This begs the question of who stands to benefit because this is how corruption was bred.”