GOVT COMPANY NEGOTIATES JOB DEAL WITH TSHEKEDI KHAMA

MBABANE – There is a proposal on the table regarding possible engagement of former Botswana Minister Tshekedi Khama as a tourism consultant for the country.

Investigations by this newspaper revealed that the contract for Tshekedi, the brother to Ian Khama, the ex-President of Botswana, will not come easy. This is because there are reportedly strong forces that are against the engagement of Tshekedi as a consultant for the Eswatini Tourism Authority (ETA), a public enterprise or parastatal. In short, the ETA is a government company. Impeccable sources said there were fears that, if the contract was to be finally signed, Tshekedi’s status ‘may’ qualify him to enjoy a Cabinet minister’s salary and benefits.
If he were to be tied to a contract with ministerial benefits, Tshekedi, the former Botswana Minister of Environment, Conservation, Natural Resources and Tourism, may get a monthly salary of E72 398.  It is worth emphasising though, that nothing is yet conclusive as negotiations are reportedly ongoing.  

Discussion

Constance Vilakati, the acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, said there was a proposal under discussion by the Board. She said the proposal was, so far, outside the ambit of the ministry/directorate and Attorney General’s Office. The acting PS said ETA would, in turn, advise the minister on the employment terms once concluded. Vilakati said negotiations were ongoing, addressing all the questions this newspaper raised, which included the job description or terms of references (TORs).

Efforts to get in contact with Tshekedi were unsuccessful.  During the official opening of the first session of the 12th Parliament, His Majesty the King said the country recognised that tourism contributed to the economic recovery and growth potential. Therefore, the King said government was engaging stakeholders in order to fully appreciate their contributions to the tourist value chain - from tour operators to front-line workers. The head of State said great effort was needed to increase visitor numbers and tourism spend, as well as promoting the country as a destination of choice.

Anticipated

His Majesty said the country needed geographic spread of sites to attract all types of travellers. The Ingwenyama encouraged the industry to offer visitors a royal experience in Eswatini. He anticipated that government would expedite the merger of Lubombo’s five game parks to put more on offer for tourists. In his 2024 budget speech, Neal Rijkenberg, the Minister of Finance, said government would continue to promote ‘Destination Eswatini’ as an advocacy strategy to ensure that Eswatini continued to be recognised as the preferred destination of choice both locally and internationally. Rijkenberg said international visitors increased by 77 per cent from January to October 2023 when compared to the 2022 calendar year.

The minister of Finance said, even though the increase in tourism was encouraging, the country had not yet reached the pre-COVID 19 tourism levels. In 2024/25, he said government would be working towards operationalising the International Convention Centre (ICC). The minister said the ICC carried huge prospects of significantly boosting the tourism sector.
As a result, he announced that government, in this year’s budget, would allocate E1.1 billion for the final completion of the Convention Centre. When completed in 2024, and if managed well, he said this project should give the nation 0.25 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) and 0.75 per cent GDP in 2025.

Development

The Finance minister said government would continue to work on the construction and development of the Big Five National Park. Rijkenberg said this project would also bring about numerous jobs, both directly and indirectly. He said it would increase tourism numbers, and for the first time, the country would have free roaming predators in a conservation park. If this project is rolled out correctly, he said it should give a 0.25per cent GDP growth in 2027 and 2028. He mentioned that Eswatini was pioneering the global concept of Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECM), to increase the area under conservation in the country.

The minister said the Big Five National Park project has a huge potential, not only to increase the country’s conservation estate but to also contribute to global conservation efforts, while implementing the Global Biodiversity Framework. He said this project has been fully funded by government so far which demonstrated the country’s commitment to implementing the global biodiversity framework and to increase the area under conservation to 10 per cent of the country’s total area.

Rijkenberg said weather and climate extremes have become more frequent, costing the Eswatini economy millions of Emalangeni. While hastening efforts to mobilise external resources to deal with this climate change related challenge; he said the Government of Eswatini has also taken it upon itself to contribute to improving the country’s early warning systems, in line with the call by the UN secretary general. collaboration and coordination among sectors.

Warning

This is done to issue effective and targeted early warning messages, to develop plans and strategies for early warnings and risk management. He said there was a need to mobilise resources to further climate change mitigation as adaptation remained very key. It has been learnt that Tshekedi was elected to the National Assembly in Serowe North West in a 2008 by-election as a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP).  He was subsequently re-elected in 2009 and 2014. From 2012 until 2018 he was the minister of Environment, Conservation, Natural Resources and Tourism.

Sources told the Times SUNDAY that the interest in him was generated, mostly or partly, by the number of awards and accolades Botswana received during his time in office.
It is understood, therefore, that his successes and experience in the tourism sector will be beneficial to Eswatini, in terms of wooing tourists to the country.

Motivation

The motivation to engage him in the negotiations stems from his involvement in high profile conservation organisations, mainly the Giants Club Summit and Rhino Conservation Botswana. His wife, Thea, was also a patron of the Global March on Elephants, Lions, Rhinos and Pangolin initiative and his brother. His brother, Ian, is one of the Board of directors at US-based Conservation International. Speaking to an NGO called ‘We are Africa’, Tshekedi said: “We have made a deliberate decision to grow tourism in this country and become imaginative in the way in which we’re doing that. “I believe we are probably the best destination in the world with ecotourism”. A big claim, but the stats don’t lie.”

Outstripping

Attracting up to 2.7 million tourists a year (comfortably outstripping its own population of two million), the tourism industry accounts for up to 14 per cent of the country’s GDP, with as much as five per cent being specifically driven by ecotourism. In 2022, the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) detained Tshekedi’s wife, Thea, a situation that was condemned by Ian. He (Tshekedi) was also detained alongside his wife, with Ian seeing persecution of his family by the Botswana Government. Ian, the former Botswana President alleged that government ordered the detention of his twin brothers, Tshekedi and Anthony by the State security.

Custody

Khama alleged that the Botswana’s Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) had his brothers in custody. “Fellow-citizens, I have just received the news that my twin brothers, Tshekedi Khama and Anthony Khama, have been detained by the DIS and are being kept at the DIS offices in Sebele,” Ian said. He said he did not know his brothers were being detained alongside Tshekedi’s wife.

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