by Prof Malema, Botswana, June 1997
THEME = ARMS
Botswana has a tiny population of 1.5 million. 60% of the population live below the poverty line. Recently, information has come to light concerning the amount of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF)'s budget. The Presidential Affairs Minister, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, justifies this: "Our government continues to strive to build a small but efficient and well-equipped army, in as cost-effective a manner as possible. I am sure that the public will continue to heed the Vice-President's analogy, that investing in an army is like taking out an insurance policy. The 1997/1998 allocation will go towards personal emoluments, acquisition of aircraft,vehicles and weapons".
Critics of the country's military spending are dumbfounded by the government's intransigence to international calls, to scale down military spending. It should be recalled that in 1987, Botswana made a joint military agreement with the United States.
Both at home and abroad, the airbase's construction had been subject to heavy criticism. Donor agencies repeatedly called on the government to balance its priorities. But Lt. Merafhe went on to say: "The decision to build the airbase was taken with the aim of providing basic facilities for the development of the BDF's Air Wing, and to relieve the accommodation shortage that exists throughout the Force". He dismissed charges that large sums of money were geared towards obtaining sophisticated weapons. "The airbase is located where there is virtually no public services. The cost of providing facilities in such virgin territory has proved enormous".
President Sir Ketumile Masire's administration has recently been involved in heavy military expenditure: the purchase of an undisclosed number of artillery pieces; 200 military trucks; 13 Canadian F-5 fighter-bomber planes. Another deal would have been the purchase of 54 German-made Leopard 1-Vs, equipped with 105mm main armaments coming from the Netherlands. This collapsed, however, after Namibia's President, Sam Nujoma, persuaded Germany to stop the deal. This move was apparently precipitated by a dispute with Botswana over a tiny island - a dispute which is still before the International Court of Justice.
Following the collapse of the deal, Botswana's Foreign Affairs Minister, Lt. Merafhe said: "We are clearly disappointed. We will have to find some alternative source for the military hardware which is so essential for the development of our defence forces".
It is understood that Botswana has now turned to China. All this has evoked protests from the opposition Botswana National Front (BNF) which said the budget vote is uncalled for, considering that the region is currently enjoying relative peace. The BNF's vice-president, Michael Dingake, said: "Instead of the military budget being increased, it should be cut and cut drastically. We have the Southern African Development Community's political and security protocols to deal with regional flashpoints. If anything, our military budget should be geared towards that".
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