With only a few days left before President Mokgweetsi Masisi dissolves Parliament, Botswana was this week battling overtime to have a law that will enable the country to deal with issues of money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Masisi, who is expected to dissolve Parliament soon in preparation for the general election, on Thursday hosted a farewell lunch for Members of Parliament.
He paid tribute to the lawmakers across the political divide for debating bills in Parliament without using unpalatable language.
The main opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) snubbed the meeting in protest against what they called “pushing through a rushed late night session to table bills into laws.”
UDC spokesperson Dithapelo Keorapetse said his party walked out of parliament on Wednesday in protest at the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)’s attempt to push through “a rushed late night session to table into law 13 central pieces of legislation in one evening.”
“The rushing of these bills on trade, financial intelligence, property control, income tax, industrial processes and the declaration of assets could ultimately be harmful to good governance and the protection of the interests of the public,” Keorapetse said.
But the main bill that parliament should not have rushed to pass and may reverse efforts to have the country removed from a global list of territories marked as high-risk for money laundering is the amendment to financial intelligence bill.
The Financial Action Task Force, a global anti-money laundering organisation founded by the world’s richest countries, last October placed Botswana on its grey-list of high-risk countries, a development that affected the country’s competitiveness.
Botswana was also blacklisted by the European Union early this year for the same reasons.
The financial intelligence bill is aimed at addressing deficiencies in the re-rating exercise carried out by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti Money Laundering Group, of which Botswana is a member early this year.
Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Kenneth Matambo sought to have the proposed amendments to the Financial Intelligence Bill hurriedly debated but opposition MPs walked out on him.
When presenting the bill in Parliament Matambo said it would enhance the integrity of Botswana’s financial sector.
KO/jn/APA