- LOO urges priority on Governance, Resource Mobilization, and Diversification
Following the 2026/27 budget presentation by Vice President and Minister of Finance Ndaba Gaolathe, Leader of Opposition (LOO) Dumelang Saleshando has criticised the new administration for failing to be “bold and intentional” about national transformation.
Saleshando argued that the budget speech suggests a government struggling to adjust to a structural decline in the economy and shrinking state revenue. He described the current economic statistics as “sobering,” noting that the economy is now smaller than it was at the close of the 2023/24 Financial Year.
“On average, Batswana are poorer now than in 2023. Hundreds of thousands go hungry,” Saleshando remarked. “For hundreds of thousands of youths—many holding college degrees—hopes for employment are dimming.”
Presenting his recommendations under the theme “Choosing A New Path,” the LOO advised that Botswana’s challenges cannot be solved through “comfortable assumptions” or routine budgeting that sustains deficits. Instead, he called for a shift from diamond dependency toward strategic domestic resource mobilisation and innovation.
Saleshando urged the government to focus on three “engine” priorities: Governance, Domestic Resource Mobilization, and Economic Diversification.
“This is not to say healthcare or education are unimportant,” Saleshando clarified. “But it is precisely because they are critical that we must first fix the engine that funds them. Without this triage, all other spending is merely a temporary, debt-fueled palliative.”
Drifting into his proposed three pillars, and first governance: Saleshando emphasised that transparency and the rule of law are the ultimate “investment climate” tools, attracting long-term investors more effectively than tax holidays.
On the second pillar of resource mobilisation, rather than hiking tax rates, the Leader of Opposition in parliament proposed digitising revenue systems and reducing cash-based transactions to plug leakages and improve compliance. This, he noted, would stabilise public finances and reduce the cost of borrowing.
Last on his proposed pillars comes diversification, and the LOO has called for immediate investment in high-potential sectors that include tourism, agriculture, the creative arts and digital services. He argued that diversification is not just about new industries, but making existing one’s export-oriented.
Saleshando concluded that a diversified economy would harness Botswana’s “demographic dividend” rather than allowing youth unemployment to become a source of social strain.
“A more diversified economy generates more stable revenue streams, which strengthen domestic resource mobilisation. It reduces pressure on government to subsidise consumption and unemployment. It creates opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship, particularly among youth, thereby harnessing Botswana’s demographic dividend rather than allowing it to become a source of social and economic strain,”
