Legislators welcome remuneration bill

Members of Parliament have welcomed establishment of a standing committee on remuneration (members of National Assembly, councillors, Ntlo ya Dikgosi and specified offices) bill.

MP for Kgalagadi North, Ms Talitha Monnakgotla, welcomed the bill saying men and women of integrity should be appointed to the committee.

She said the committee should be fully resourced to enable it to cover the entire country to get first experience on the challenges they face in their respective constituencies.

Mahalapye West MP, Mr David Tshere said it was awkward for members to advocate for their salary increments.

He said their salaries had been eroded by their role in their communities since they had to share the little they had with their electorates.

MP Tshere, however, called for the appointment process to be transparent, adding that it should not be a reward scheme for members of the ruling party.

Molepolole North MP, Mr Oabile Regoeng supported the bill and urged fellow MPs to only concentrate on members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi as stated, although he was concerned about the wellbeing of headmen of arbitration and other dikgosi who were not covered by the Public Service Act.

He said councillors were most affected since they used their resources to assist community members such as using their vehicles to ferry the sick to the clinics where ambulances were unavailable.

MP Regoeng urged the committee to address the huge income gaps between different salary scales.

For his part, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi, MP for Francistown South, said this was a major step towards building an independent Parliament.

He said it was not right for MPs to argue for their salaries saying it did not paint the right picture in the minds of the constituents.

He, however, said judges and dikgosi should be left under the Public Service Act because they were public officers.

The Vice President and MP for Boteti West, Mr Slumber Tsogwane welcomed establishment of the committee.

He said initially the committee was to address remunerations for MPs only and did not cover judges and councillors.

Mr Tsogwane said it was important for the nation to know that they were only setting up a committee to look into their salaries and not increasing their salaries.

Furthermore, he said the committee would be tasked with adjusting salaries and allowances as they saw fit and therefore this was not an automatic upward adjustment.

He said an independent commission to look into overall salaries for public officers and politicians could be established at a later stage, adding that government was concerned that the salaries were low when compared with other regional countries.

MP Setlhomo Lelatisitswe of Boteti East said the bill would require some changes in the legislation since dikgosi and councillors were under a different ministry.

Source: Daily News http://www.dailynews.gov.bw/news-details.php?nid=61724