Ambulance shortage now at crisis levels

 

With the Ministry of Health facing a crisis as a result of a shortage of ambulances, the Assistant Minister of Health, Gaotlhaetse Mathabaphiri, has told parliament that his ministry has engaged the Central Transport Organisation to make an exception and allow the ministry to take charge of its fleet.

Currently, the CTO is responsible for buying, maintenance and repairing of all government vehicles.

Responding to a question by Okavango MP, Bagalatia Arone, during the minister’s question time on Friday, Matlhabaphiri acknowledged that the ministry is faced with a crisis owing to a shortage of vehicles.

Many patients across Botswana, especially in rural areas, are unable to access health facilities because of the unavailability of ambulances.

Matlhabaphiri said that out of a total of 577 vehicles, 130 had been declared unusable by CTO. He also said a total of 193 vehicles were currently at different CTO depots awaiting service and tyre changes.

“We are in talks with CTO to see if we cannot manage and fix our own fleet,” he said.

The minister said that it could expeditiously fix some of their vehicles by outsourcing to reputable garages, adding that recently the ministry distributed a number of vehicles to be used across the country in primary hospitals. He said that a total of 6 vehicles were distributed across the Okavango region.

However, subsequent to that, five vehicles broke down and were taken to CTO for repair.
“The only solution is to outsource,” added Matlhabaphiri.

“In other places, we have directed district primary health centres to seek assistance from the district offices,” he said.

Matlhabaphiri said this while responding to a follow up question by MP Reggie Reatile, who had wanted to find out what the ministry is doing as a temporary measure to remedy the state of affairs.

The minister was unable to give a time frame as to when government hopes to have addressed the transport crisis within government hospitals and clinics.

Meanwhile, MP Kentse Rammidi has expressed concern that the Ministry of Health’s proposal to take over its fleet from CTO could affect the ministry’s budget and lead it away from its core business.

Details of BDF intelligence illegal spying on former deputy commander kept secret

Details of how beMobile cellular phone service provider helped Botswana Defence Force military intelligence to eavesdrop on dismissed former Deputy Commander, General Pius Mokgware’s cellular phone conversations may be kept secret following an out of court settlement on Monday.

Mokgware had launched a lawsuit against BDF and beMobile after he was dismissed from the army allegedly following an extra-judicial surveillance against him, which he described as “systematic monitoring and tapping of phone calls, communications from his cellular phone and general surveillance”.

It is believed that President Lt Gen Ian Khama and the BDF fired the former deputy commander on the strength of intelligence illegally gleaned from his BeMobile cellular phone conversations.

Mokgware has since withdrawn his case against BDF following an out of court settlement. The lawsuit against beMobile, however, is still before court.  

Indications are that beMobile will take cue from the state and opt to settle out of court.
Mokgware had wanted a total of P12 million; P6 million from BDF and P6 million from beMobile.

In an amended affidavit, Mokgware is demanding that BTC and beMobile furnish him with documents he requires for purposes of his law suit against the two state-owned phone service providers.

The former BDF boss states in his statement that beMobile General Manager, Anthony Masunga, had told him that they had recently taken disciplinary action against employees they had found to be accessing customers’ accounts without authority and that the system had provided the information necessary to trace the employees in question.

Mokgware was responding to beMobile’s reasons for declining to produce the print out showing persons who had accessed his cellular phone account claiming that beMobile system does not create logs or print outs from which it can be determined who has accessed an account.

“This runs contrary to the information that I was given by Mr Masunga when I first reported my complaint a day following receipt of the sms subject of litigation,” said Mokgware. He said at the time, Masunga assured him that each user with access to customer’s accounts has a password and once such password is used at any given time the system records who has accessed information and what particular account they were accessing.

“Mr Masunga assured me at the time that they would thus be able to trace such user, if any, in their investigation into my complaint. I, therefore, dispute the current about turn taken to claim that such information is not generated at all,” states Mokgware.

He also accuses BTC of attempting to deny the existence of documents generated by BeMobile consequent to his lodging a complaint with Masunga.

“I wish to point at this juncture that such denial cannot be correct as upon following up progress on enquiry into my complaint some in February/March 2012 with Mr Masunga, he told me personally that since I have also reported the matter to Second Respondent (The Director General, Directorate of Intelligence and Security) Second Respondent office was not in a position to give any feedback directly back to me on the matter. He advised me in this regard to take up the matter with the Second Respondent,” says Mokgware.
He said he was advised by the DIS Director, Isaac Kgosi, that statements had been taken from persons referred to and records obtained from beMobile, including a report from beMobile.??“He further advised that his office was not in a position to divulge to me the contents of the documents and their report on the matter in the absence of a court order to that effect,” he said.

In an earlier letter to the Attorney General Athaliah Molokomme and retired BDF Commander General Tebogo Masire, General Mokgware had alleged that around January 2010, a BDF Intelligence Officer (known to this paper) erroneously sent him a text message requesting details of his communication on his private mobile number.??He states that from the text message, it was clear the message was a request to a beMobile employee and “it was self evident from the sms that this was not the first time that such information had been requested”. ??Mokgware further claimed that his investigations pointed to the involvement of the army’s high ranking officials who instructed junior officers to tail him.

Venson fears for a BDP that does not want to embrace Change

 

In announcing that she will be standing for the position of BDP chairman, Pelonomi Venson, has said she will not be producing alongside herself a list of other people she wants elected to help her run the party in the event she gets elected.

She said that will be the task of the BDP faithful to decide.

While becoming a BDP chairman will bring with it new and added responsibilities, Venson is emphatic that she is at ease with retaining her executive position as Minister of Education.

She said she has made known her ambitions to the party leadership, but fell short of saying what the response she got was that leadership.

Effectively launching herself, Venson said she was very much aware of public apprehensions from some sections, especially in the wake of recent poor school examination results.

“I am fully aware of where the ministry is going. There is a roadmap. So far it is clear that turnaround will not be easy. But this is mainly because of where the ministry was. I have my ducks in a row,” she said as she enumerated the new changes and reforms she will be bringing to the Ministry of Education, ostensibly to improve delivery in the medium to long terms.

She said her decision to run for position of Chairman is the one that has not been taken easily, let alone lightly.

The decision, she said, came after serious thought and consideration.

“I have a family – I am a mother, I am a wife and a grandmother. Before I make a decision to take added responsibilities I have to make a thorough consideration. I can tell you that my home base is strong and solid,” she said in reference to support from her family to run.

The same, she said, also applied to her constituency, Serowe South, where she said she has received blessings to run for the party’s second most senior position after president.

“A few have expressed some reservations, but by and large people in my constituency think I have what it takes.”

But can she really be a minister and BDP Chairman at the same given the prevailing circumstances?
“Yes I can do both. I have done it before. At one point I held four responsibilities at one time; Member of Parliament, Minister, Deputy Secretary General and Acting BDP Executive Secretary,” she said.

She said after all there is nothing at the moment that stops her from being both a Chairman and minister since the rules have once again been changed to allow for it.

All she wanted to do, she said, was to bring her administrative capabilities and experiences acquired over many years to transform the BDP.

At one point, President Ian Khama came out strongly to say people would have to choose between cabinet and party executive positions.

Only Daniel Kwelagobe resigned from cabinet in favour of retaining his position as BDP National Chairman. The rest, including the BDP Secretary General at the time, Jacob Nkate, opted for cabinet.
That moratorium has since been lifted.

“There is an advantage in being at both party and cabinet at the same time,” said Venson this week.
Perhaps, as a sign of what she would use as her campaign rallying cry, Venson vaguely but strongly hinted at a BDP that is running out of time to reinvent itself and align itself for future changes, including a role as an opposition party.

She decried the lack of depth and modernization within the party ranks.

“BDP structures need to be more aligned. Perhaps because we have never worked as an opposition we do not even know how to respond to a war cry. But society is changing. The next generation will be more demanding. I am the only Member of Parliament who is active on Facebook. And that gets me worried,” she said.

Reference of BDP’s future role as an opposition party was first made by Daniel Kwelagobe, the current Chairman and Venson’s longtime mentor.

Kwelagobe has in the past said there is no longer any guarantee that the BDP, in power since independence, will win the 2019 General Elections.

And that, it seemed was a mantra that Venson echoed when she said BDP should learn to respond to a “war cry.”

But just what is it that Venson will be bringing? She makes explicit and countless references to administrative experiences, a theme that also comes out quite clearly in her resume.

MOITOI DECLARES HER INTEREST FOR BDP CHAIRMANSHIP

Serowe South Member of Parliament and Minister of Education and Skills Development Pelonomi Venson Moitoi today declared her interest to take over the Chairmanship of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party 2013/15.
The Minister who recently compared her tenacity to a pit bull is ahead on campaigns, using social media like Facebook to announce her intentions.
Since Wednesday morning her facebook page wall carried the following message: “I feel privileged to offer my services to you in the role of party Chairman for 2013-2015.
I believe that the party deserves to consolidate the peace and stability we have gained over the past several months.
As we enter the home stretch into the 2014 elections, I am convinced that I have thought through the task sufficiently to confirm that I am willing to serve and ready to deliver.
Moitoi has been under fire recently following the shockingly poor form three examinations results.

She however accused the opposition parties of politicizing education and vowed to turn around the problem riddled Ministry of Education for the better.