The Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has promised to build railway infrastructure that will accommodate fast trains equivalent to the Shinkansen or bullet trains used in developed countries such as Japan.
In its manifesto that was launched last Saturday in Gaborone, the party also says that if voted to power, it will build a mega-airport, smart city transportation, and a reliable water distribution system within the shortest time possible.
“Our comprehensive infrastructure will overhaul, modernise our transport infrastructure and bring billions of Pula in new African and international markets. It will create tens of thousands of more jobs in response to expansion of agricultural and manufacturing sectors. In addition, our built infrastructure will directly create tens of thousands of jobs in construction, engineering, and allied services during a building process which should last well beyond five years,” reads the document.
The party says that it will enforce a progressive taxation of less or no taxes for low income groups and gradually increasing taxes, but remaining the lowest in the region.
It says that it will encourage transparency and accountability in fiscal management, and close all loopholes that may present an opportunity for transparency.
The party accuses the BDP Government of significanlty cutting expenditure whilst increasing taxes in downturns.
“Secondly, Government expenditure is not adequately accounted for– we have seen government muzzle or deprive the Auditor General of funds necessary to conduct performance audits of major projects or departments. We have also seen failure to audit several key institutions on time. Third, Government, though its large procurement budget continues to promote patronage and a culture of tenderpreneurship, without a clear mechanism to cultivate genuine entrepreneurship”.
The party says that it is going to encourage personal savings among citizens of all economic segments, groom homegrown financial institutions that may subsequently become multinational banks, and respect the independence of the Bank of Botswana to do its job.
“The majority of commercial banks are foreign banks, and are largely directed from abroad while only two major local banks were established by the State. There is no incidence of any bank founded by local bankers as a group, there have been several failed attempts in the past”.
The manifesto states that the UDC government will be guided by six pillars of building a deep economy that offers each citizen opportunities for a happy fulfilled life; Democracy, Governance and Security; Land, Housing, Environment, Climate Change and Green Economy; Education, Research, and Human Resource Development; Healthcare, Social Protection and Gender Equality; International Relations and Global Markets.
The UDC says that it will also revamp the education system and shift from the 60 year inherited colonial system that is unable to produce graduates that match the skills that the markets demand.
“The current system has also failed to provide adequate investment, vision and capacity to discover, design, develop, apply and commercialise technology and knowledge for economic growth, enhancement of productivity and competitiveness in the country”.
In its 32-page manisfesto, the UDC says that the country urgently needs the STEAM Education system, which is a teaching method that combines Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mematics to guide student inquiry, discussion, and problem-solving during learning.
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