Gaborone — A University of Botswana Political Science don has called on President Ian Khama to be more active in Parliament.

At a forum organised by BOCONGO (Botswana Council of Non-Governmental Organisations) to discuss the President's State of the Nation Address yesterday in Gaborone, Dr Zibani Maundeni said that Khama is an MP and has the rights as a legislator.He said that it will be interesting for Khama to put his ideas before the Parliament instead of making announcements on policy issues through the media.

"We expect him to be active in Parliament, but we are not aware of the deliberations that go behind the announcements that he usually makes on Btv (Botswana Television). But if he was active in Parliament, we would have an opportunity to appreciate the process of putting his ideas forward by taking it through debate in Parliament. That is what happens in an active democracy," he said.

On a lighter note, Maundeni said that it was good that the President's address will be discussed by MPs in Parliament. He asserted that this depicts how a parliamentary democracy should work - discussing policy issues at the National Assembly.Addressing himself to paragraph 42 of the President's speech, which talks about promoting citizen empowerment through buying locally produced goods, Maundeni said he was uncomfortable with the language used by Khama. He said that the repeated use of the word 'instructed' shows that there will be no consultation but rather orders flowing from the executive to stakeholders.

"I don't hear consultation. This is the approach government has taken. Whether they have time to approach stakeholders, I don't know. I don't know if he consults them (stakeholders) first and then instructs the ministers. I don't know," he said.

He expressed hope that in agriculture, things will not be done through orders, "so that those involved could contribute.

I have seen through the Media Bill that if you don't consult people and you go on to have your way, people will not participate. Government didn't listen to them (media) and they refused to participate," he said.