GABORONE - There is no enthusiasm in both government and Parliament to privatise some government departments for economic diversification.

Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Kenneth Matambo told BOPA that the governments privatisation drive has not achieved much, adding that attempts to privatise Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) and Air Botswana have not been realised.

He said that his first task is to ensure that the government as well as Parliament set clear roles for institutions that must drive privatisation if economic diversification is to succeed.

He said privatisation has been turned into just a buzz word as the policy has been adopted by Parliament, but was never implemented, which has resulted in fierce criticism from members of the public, especially politicians.

Mr Matambo said that Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency (PEEPA) cannot be blamed for the delay in implementing privatisation because their role is not specific, adding that the government must clearly indicate the entity that must drive the privatisation concept.

He said if the government is not ready to drive the implementation concept of privatisation it must closely monitor institutions that will be given the mandate, adding that the government can reserve a certain percentage of the institution it wants to privatise and let the rest go ahead.

He indicated that entities such as National Development Bank (NDB) and Government Employees Motor Vehicle and Housing Advance Scheme (GEMVHAS) must be privatised without delay so that the services they offer to the public are done at a fee for the growth of the economy.

He also stated that contrary to the recent Sunday Standard newspapers article that he has turned down a request by the PEEPA to reappoint Mr Joshua Galeforwe as CEO they are still negotiating with him on some logistics on his contract.

Mr Matambo denied the allegations put forward by the newspaper that indicated that it emerged that the boards term had also expired, which means technically PEEPA has neither a board of directors nor a CEO.

He pointed out that some board members have retired, some resigned while others contracts have expired. He promised that they will soon have a new board of directors.

On other issues such as the talk that the Botswana government is too big with too many parastatals where every ministry has a group of parastatals run by highly paid CEOs and a large civil service with a huge salary bill, Mr Matambo said instead of employing annually the government must use those that are already in place.BOPA