BOTSWANA

Botswana is a unitary republic. According to the 1996 Constitution (since amended), the president is elected for a five-year term that runs concurrently with that of the National Assembly. The country has a decentralised system of government, but there is no constitutional provision for local government. The legislative framework for decentralisation is comprised of the Local Government (District Councils) Act of 1965 and the Township Act of 1965, which were consolidated in 2012 with the Local Government Act. This act enabled local authorities to make decisions at a local level and to allocate funds within their regions of jurisdiction. Harmonised elections for the National Assembly and local authorities are held every five years, with the most recent elections held in October 2019.

The subnational level of government consists of 16 local authorities, which are categorised as city, town and district (rural) councils, and a set of semi-autonomous local authorities called land boards and tribal administrations. Local authorities are governed by urban councils (the 6 cities and towns are headed by mayors) and district (rural) councils (the 10 rural districts are headed by chairpersons). The office of the district commissioner within each of the local authorities runs and has authority over the development, implementation and monitoring local development affairs in coordination with the politically appointed councillors. The district commissioner is appointed by the central government as an ex officio member of the respective urban or rural council. Since the latest elections in 2019, there are 609 councillors, of whom 490 were elected democratically from within their wards, and 119 councillors who were nominated by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development.

Land boards are autonomous central government agencies that operate at subnational level on matters of land administration. They carry out the mandate of the Ministry of Land Management, Water and Sanitation Services. They were set up by the Tribal Land Act in 1968, which has subsequently been repealed and revised by the Tribal Land Act of 2018. There is a total of 12 land boards in rural areas and small towns across the country. A further level of governance are the traditional administrations, which are based on a system of villages headed by a Kgosi (chief). Since the enforcement of the latest Tribal Land Act, customary land usage arrangements also need to be recorded with the Registrar of Deeds.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) oversees the local authorities and semi-autonomous local authorities in Botswana. These decentralised institutions facilitate the Ministry's development programs at local level and provide services at a decentralised level of government. They also promote local democracy and government, as well as social welfare and economic empowerment for the poor.

Section 90 of the Local Government Act of 2012 established a Local Government Association (Botswana Association of Local Authorities) (BALA) to promote good governance, coherence, and horizontal cooperation among local governments. BALA actively campaigns for decentralisation in Botswana.

In 2016, the country established a developmental plan called Vision 2036, which supported the development of a decentralisation policy outlining the roles and responsibilities of central government, local government and non-state actors. The purpose of the policy is to engage a process to achieve sustainable local development. The government has admitted that a lack of decentralisation has resulted in service delivery failure, and that the proposed decentralisation model may improve this. The decentralisation policy was opened for public comment as a second draft in 2021, with one of the recommendations being that local government be recognised in the Constitution of the Republic of Botswana. As of the beginning of 2022, there was no indication of when would the decentralisation policy be completed or the recommendations implemented.

TERRITORIAL ORGANISATION
Municipal Level [1]	INTERMEDIATE LEVEL	REGIONAL LEVEL	TOTAL NUMBER OF SNGs (2021)
10 district (rural) councils 6 urban councils (4 town councils, 2 city councils)
Average municipal size: 146 976
16			16

[1] Name and number of sub-municipal entities (if relevant):
23 sub-districts
12 land boards
41 subordinate land boards

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Among the 16 local authorities, 10 are classified as rural districts and the remaining 6 as urban districts. The local authorities are further divided into a total of 23 sub-districts, which are accountable to the rural district in which they have been created. Local authorities in rural areas are also supported by tribal authorities headed by a Kgosi (chief), in achieving their mandate. Land boards are corporatised entities of the central government which support the land administration process, in coordination with subordinate land boards.

MUNICIPAL LEVEL: The Township Act of 1965 provided for the regulation of city and town councils prior to the Local Government Act of 2012. Local authorities are categorised into rural and urban districts. Out of the 6 urban districts there are 4 town councils and 2 city councils. Gaborone City Council and Francistown City Council are the two biggest cities in the country. There are town councils in the urban areas of Lobatse, Sowa, Jwaneng and Selibe Phikwe. The 10 district (rural) councils encompass the remainder of the country and are typically vast in size. The largest and most populous of all the districts is the central district which had a population of 576 064 in the most recent census in 2011, representing 28% of the country’s population. The area of central district is 142 076 km². The town councils are typically small towns and in 2011, varied between 29 000 and 232 000 inhabitants. Population density can be as low as 1 inh/km² in rural districts and up to 1 000 inh/km² in city councils.

Rural districts are broken down into 23 sub-districts which are generally centred around small towns. Sub-districts are overseen by the rural districts in which they fall. In some parts of the country, some of the responsibilities of the rural districts have been devolved to sub-districts.

SEMI-AUTONOMOUS LOCAL AUTHORITIES: The Tribal Land Act of 2018 extends the provisions of land boards established under the Tribal Act of 1968. Land boards are now allowed to allocate tribal land to both citizens and non-citizens who have permissible exemptions. Land boards are primarily responsible for the distribution of tribal (rural) land to citizens. The establishment of subordinate land boards in 1973 was a response to the increasing responsibilities of land boards, which now oversee the subordinate land boards in their area of jurisdiction. Subordinate land boards are responsible for the approval of building licences, determination of land ownership boundaries, monitoring grazing and the allocation of land to communal uses. The Tribal Land Act further provides for cooperation with the rural council in formulating policy.

The traditional administration plays two key roles in regulating villages and is regarded as the most basic institution of government. Firstly, the Kgotla (‘Assemblies of Tribes’) meetings function as immediate public platforms that allow members of the community to raise their concerns and inform the community about public policies and local level targeted development plans. The traditional administration is thus tasked with the responsibility of linking central government with the local community by providing a channel of communication through the Kgotlas. Within the framework of the Kgotla, the second function of the traditional administration, each one headed by a Chief, is the settlement of customary court cases. The third function is the economic and social development of the villages. As mandated by the Constitution, eight of the chiefs also hold office as members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi (“House of Chiefs“), a consultative institution that advises the Parliament, but has neither executive nor veto powers in executive matters.

HORIZONTAL COOPERATION: The Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) helps to create an enabling environment for the councils to “become credible and recognised partners of central government and the private sector in the development process.” One of the avenues through which BALA pursues this objective is building the capacity of councils through training and professionalisation. BALA convenes annual conferences in which councils can share their experience and learn from one another, and is a member of international local government associations. There are no formal horizontal cooperation programs in place, although there may be recommendations which the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) shares with the local government authorities.

The functions of district (rural) and urban councils are listed in the Local Government (District Councils) Act. This is complemented by other relevant Acts including the Local Authority Procurement and Assets Disposal Act of 2008, the Public Service Act of 2008 and the Town and Regional Planning Act of 2013.The main statutory functions of councils include the provision of five key services, namely, primary education infrastructure, health and sanitation, the supply of water and sanitation services to rural areas, local development and road maintenance.

Main responsibility sectors and sub-sectors
SECTORS AND SUB-SECTORS	Municipal level
1. General public services (administration)	Administrative services (electoral register)
2. Public order and safety	Firefighting
3. Economic affairs / transports	Tertiary and secondary road networks and facilities; Tourism
4. Environment protection	Nature preservation; environmental protection; Waste management; Sewerage (waste water management and sanitation); Street cleaning
5. Housing and community amenities	Urban and land use planning; Urbanism; Water provision outside areas where a Water Authority has been appointed
6. Health	Public health; Disease outbreak control; public hygiene facilities
7. Culture & Recreation	Sports and recreation; Cultural activities (park and open spaces); Religious affairs
8. Education	Primary education
9. Social Welfare

Scope of fiscal data: urban and district (rural) councils

SNA 2008

Availability of fiscal data: Low

Quality/reliability of fiscal data: Low

GENERAL INTRODUCTION: Botswana’s legal framework regarding finance is well-established and comprehensive. Chapter 8 of the 1997 constitutional amendment creates provisions for public management, and section 7 of the 1965 Local Government (District Councils) Act provides the fiscal framework regulating councils’ revenues, accounts and audits. The 1970 Finance and Audit Act assigns clear roles and responsibilities to the different levels of government and provides a regulatory framework pertaining to public finance.

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) plays a key role in coordinating the fiscal relations between the national and the local governments, as well as in providing oversight for municipal financial planning, reporting and management.

In 2021, technical assistance was provided by the IMF to support the Botswana Statistics Agency on reporting national accounts in the 2008 System of National Accounts format. This transition has been completed, with backdated rebasing of previous accounts in process.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

EXPENDITURE: The MLGRD coordinates local government development spending. In FY 2016/17, local government expenditure accounted for slightly over 10% of overall general government expenditure in the country, with employee costs accounting for 36% of local government expenditure. Local government spending is relatively small, given that Botswana has not devolved many functions to local governments. Local governments are involved in development initiatives, according to available data, accounting for 47% of local expenditure. However, the data are not sufficiently disaggregated to allow us to determine what portion of the budget is invested to intermediate consumption (service provision) and what portion is dedicated to local government investments in the development of infrastructure and other services for which they are responsible.

DIRECT INVESTMENT: Botswana has a reputation as an investment success story, with robust foreign direct investment and an increasing GDP, driven primarily by mineral exploitation, although the country has been diversifying investment in the previous 10 years. The investment climate is open and facilitates investment in line within a coherent investment framework and streamlined regulatory environment. The Botswana Investment & Trade Centre was created as an investment and trade promotion agency. The Centre facilitates investment in Botswana and assists with the ease of doing business in the country, and has a subnational reach whereby investments in specific councils can be targeted and executed.

The majority of direct investment by general government is incurred by central government or state-owned enterprises. State-owned entities contribute approximately 25% of general government direct investment, and local government contributes approximately 10%, which is typically funded entirely through transfers from central government. Any direct investment by local government must be for projects that are included in the country’s national development plan.

There has been an increasing focus on the role of the private sector in contributing to the developmental objectives of the country through public-private partnerships. A public-private partnership unit (PPP Unit) established in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has been tasked with coordinating the implementation of the country’s PPP agenda, as outlined in the National Development Plan 2017-2023. However, there is no PPP law in the country, only guidance provided under the PPP Policy and general government covenants under the Public Finance Management Act.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

The arrangement of functional responsibilities in Botswana places the responsibilities the construction and maintenance of primary school and college facilities, teachers’ salaries, customary courts, rural administrative centres, and recreational parks with local government. There is no recent data available for the expenditure of subnational government entities by the classification of function of government, although the IMF reported in 2021 that the government of Botswana plans to produce the necessary data for central government, consolidated general government and extra-budgetary institutions (including local government).

Subnational government revenue by category
2021	Dollars PPP / inhabitant	% GDP	% general government	% subnational government
Total revenue	-	-	-	-
Tax revenue	-	-	-	-
Grants and subsidies	361	2.3%	-	-
Tariffs and fees	-	-	-	-
Income from assets	-	-	-	-
Other revenues	-	-	-	-

OVERALL DESCRIPTION: Local governments in Botswana have the legal authority to collect taxes and levies to support operational activities, but they still rely significantly on transfers from the national government. Depending on the size and location of the council, operational costs, such as maintenance, are covered by the revenue support grant, which covers around 90% of operational expenditure (own-revenues accounts for 10% operational expenditure on average).

There is no recent data available for the revenue of subnational government entities.

TAX REVENUE: District and urban councils have legal powers to collect taxes, levies and fees for abattoirs, building permits, clinics, animal pounds, property rates, school fees and trading licenses. Central government is responsible for property valuation, and local government is responsible for the billing and collection of property rates revenue. The extent to which this is happening is unknown.

GRANTS AND SUBSIDIES: Local governments receive three types of government transfers. The first is the Revenue Support Grant, which is a subsidy to help cover the costs of the tasks that fall under the purview of the local government. It is a formula-based grant that was created in 1994 and takes into account the population size of the local government, distance from the administrative capital, and surface area for distribution at the time of its inception. The councils are provided with these grants to support their annual expenditure requirements. In 1997, the formula had been broadened to incorporate capital investment, local revenue mobilisation, and local government operating costs. Use of the formula has been discontinued, and the quantum allocated to different councils are discussed and decided upon by the relevant central government budget committee. The Public Debt Service Fund (PSDF), a local government lending mechanism, is the second type of transfer. The PDSF was formed in 1973 to provide funding to service public debt, although the extent to which local government accessing PDSF funds is unknown. An equipment (capital) grant called the development grant is the third type of transfer. The quantum of this grant depends on the capital expenditure plans of the councils, which are funded through the development grant, almost in their entirety.

Dipholo & Gumede found that in 2013 up to 90% of the district (rural) councils’ total recurrent revenue and up to 80% of urban councils’ recurrent revenue is provided by central government, indicating that there is only a small disparity between urban and rural councils. The entire capital budget for council expenditure is provided by central government.

The Revenue Support Grant and the development grant, which were intergovernmental fiscal transfers from the MLGRD to district and urban councils, amounted to slightly over BWP 4 billion for 2020/2021.

OTHER REVENUE: In Botswana, local governments can charge tariffs and fees for the services they offer (e.g., government borehole leasing) or licenses they issue (e.g., boat registration and licenses), as well as collect money from customary court penalties. Rates, service levies, and user fees such as trade licenses, beer levy, interest on investments, and housing rents are some of the other sources of local tax revenue.

ⓘ No detailed data available for this country

FISCAL RULES: Regarding the fiscal accountability of local authorities, Botswana’s legal framework comprises the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act (2011). The 2011 Act is the overarching legislation on the control and management of public moneys in Botswana. This legislation is supported by the Ombudsman Act, the Corruption and Economic Crime Act, the Accounts and Audit Act and the Local Authority Procurement and Asset Disposal Act. The Auditor General’s Department is a statutory authority which audits the accounts of all councils annually; the Local Authorities Public Accounts Committee, appointed by the MLGRD, examines the accounts of local authorities periodically; the Ombudsman deals with complaints of maladministration and the Directorate on Economic Crime and Corruption investigates alleged cases of corruption. The Auditor General’s reports on the local authorities are only available in hard copy, for a nominal fee, from the government bookshop and are available 9 months after the end of the previous financial year.

DEBT: Under section 47 of the Local Government (District Councils) Act, councils may borrow, but only subject to terms and conditions of the central government. Local governments can borrow up to one-third of their previous year's revenue (excluding grants) without approval, but values over the one-third threshold must be approved by the MLGRD and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. The Public Debt Service Fund (PDSF) used to provide funding to city councils, but subnational government borrowing in Botswana has been limited due to prior repayment issues and considering that some councils have yet to repay the funds that were previously provided. Furthermore, the MLGRD does not track loan performance, which could result in future budgetary issues. Although the data is not available, the financial reliance of rural councils on central government would imply that there is very little or no borrowing at subnational government level.

TERRITORIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CRISIS: To deal with the COVID-19 crisis, Botswana declared a state of emergency on 2 April 2020 after the country recorded its first case on 31 March 2020. The state of emergency was further extended to 30 September 2021, along with an extension on curfew and localised lockdowns. Botswana’s response to COVID-19 was strongly based on the International Health Regulations of 2005 as it is wholly incorporated in the country’s Public Health Act. The Public Health Act along with the Emergency Powers Act 2020 (which was enacted specifically to address the COVID-19 pandemic) provided the necessary emergency legal framework for a comprehensive response.

The COVID-19 crisis response was managed centrally by the president’s office, with the involvement of other partners. Prior to the World Health Organisation qualification of the COVID-19 epidemic as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020, President Mokgweetsi Masisi established a multi-sectoral national Public Health Emergency and Preparedness Committee and a National Presidential Task Force to coordinate the response to COVID-19. The Presidential Task Force, established on 16 March 2020, was comprised of the chairperson and coordinator Dr Kereng Masupu (an international infectious disease expert), a scientific advisor, a director of health services, and a deputy coordinator. The Presidential Task Force’s mandate was to advise the government on the public health measures to take to contain the pandemic. The Presidential Task Force was also responsible for providing overall oversight and coordination of the multi-sectoral response. The Presidential Task Force developed a surveillance plan to monitor the disease, which included an establishment of nine COVID Zones, which were only aligned to subnational government administrative zones in a few areas.

Botswana’s District Health Management teams were responsible for oversight and management of health service delivery in clinics and hospitals at district level. The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) initially conducted risk assessments of all the district health teams which informed the country’s response. In addition, the University of Botswana’s Public Health Medicine Unit provided technical support to the MoHW in areas of national and subnational coordination and planning, surveillance, case investigations and rapid response teams, points of entry, travel and transportation, infection prevention and control and case management.

The government of Botswana also collaborated with the South African Development Community to coordinate policies and operations at border crossings, particularly between Botswana and South Africa.

EMERGENCY MEASURES TO COPE WITH THE CRISIS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT: In mid-April 2020, the government established the COVID-19 Food Relief Programme to support vulnerable populations and mitigate the social impacts. Over BWP 150 million (USD PPP 32 million) were set aside for this intervention.

A COVID-19 Relief Fund was also launched in April 2020 with a contribution from government of BWP 2 billion (1.1% of GDP) to finance a wage subsidy of up to 50% of salaries of affected businesses for 3 months, finance a waiver on training levy for 6 months and seed a government loan guarantee scheme (20% financed by commercial banks) for tax compliant business.

At district level, the partnership established between the Francistown City Council and the Trust for Community Initiatives/Botswana Homeless and Poor People’s federation, was a way to combat the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the work done included developing strategies to disseminate information and help assess the impact of the pandemic. Essential items were donated to the Francistown City Council to contribute towards the city’s Food Bank. The city council played a critical role in assessing, distributing, and disseminating information on the COVID-19 prevention. However, the major health responses were enacted by the central government.

IMPACTS OF THE CRISIS ON SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE: The COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on the tourism, hospitality and mining industries, which are key contributors to Botswana’s GDP, but also to sustainable natural resource management and job creation across the country. Central government revenue declined from 26.0% of GDP in 2019 to 24.0% of GDP between 2019 and 2020, partly due to the Ministry of Finance instituting a tax deferral of 75% of any quarterly payment between March and September 2020 to be paid by March 2021. Central government expenditure increased from 33.9% to 35.0% of GDP and central government debt from 19.2% to 23.5% of GDP over the same time period.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a real GDP contraction of 7.9% in Botswana in 2020 - the largest in the country’s history. This has also led to a depletion of existing fiscal buffers and has constrained revenue collection, reduced Government’s capacity and resources needed to accelerate the implementation of structural reforms and threatened to reverse progress in poverty reduction. Data on the extent of the impact on subnational government is not available.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STIMULUS PLANS: The parliament approved a BWP 14.5 billion stimulus as part of the Economic Recovery Transformation Plan, approved by parliament in October 2020 to support the economic recovery, foster economic growth, and facilitate structural transformation. Botswana’s efforts to accelerate key economic reforms got a boost following the approval of about BWP 2.9 billion loan (USD 250 million) by the World Bank in 2021. The Programmatic Economic Resilience and Green Recovery Development Policy Loan (DPL) will support the implementation of Botswana’s Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan and is designed to strengthen COVID-19 pandemic relief while bolstering resilience to future shocks.

In July 2020, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), together with the United Nations, initiated a policy development process that produced the National Social Protection Recovery Plan (NSPRP). The NSPRP is the plan for the redevelopment of existing and design of new components of a social protection net, including orphan care, school feeding schemes, old age care and pension support, child care grants, disability grants, unemployment relief (‘ipelegeng’), student loans and several smaller programs. District and urban councils are partners in the implementation of the NSPRP, although there are few devolved responsibilities as of 2021. This is acknowledged to be a weakness in the NSPRP and there are plans to increase the role of urban and rural councils after the finalisation of the Decentralisation Policy.