28/04/2025
๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐/๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง | ๐๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ!
Today I would like to talk about intelligenceโnot intelligence in the academic sense, but intelligence as in the collection of information of military, economic, and political value. Intelligence, in its true form, allows leaders to make informed decisions. It is the bridge between understanding a problem and applying the right solution.
At its core, intelligence is the practice of matching accurate, timely data with national priorities. It enables governments to anticipate challenges, plan effectively, and allocate resources with impact. But when data is missing, incomplete, or outdated, decision-making becomes not just difficultโit becomes dangerous.
What happens when the institutions tasked with producing this intelligence, such as the Department of Statistics, fall behind? When they fail to deliver up-to-date, accurate data, the entire system of governance suffers. Decisions are made in the dark. Resources are misallocated. Lives are affected.
Take, for instance, in the 2013/14 Financial year the Minister of Education was allocated a budget of P7 billion+. At the end of the fiscal period, about P1 billion was returned to the governmentโclaimed as a surplus. On paper, this looked like efficiency. In reality, it was a tragedy.
Because while the budget was returned, teachers remained without adequate housing. Students continued learning without textbooks. Some schools lacked enough classrooms to accommodate learners. This wasnโt a successโit was a failure of intelligence. A failure to capture and communicate the true needs of the education system.
The problem lies not in a lack of money, but in a lack of information. Had the Department of Statistics delivered up-to-date reports on school infrastructure, learning materials, and teacher conditions, that billion p**a could have changed lives instead of being shelved.
Letโs consider another example: tourism. The government now aims to grow tourism as a key driver of the economyโa vision worth supporting. But how do you build an effective strategy without a solid foundation of data?
We need to know: What modes of transport do tourists prefer? How much is spent by those who fly in compared to those who come by road? How much revenue does Air Botswana generate from tourist travel? What taxes does it pay? These questions help us determine whether Air Botswana is a strategic national asset or a costly liability.
And yet, much of this data is either unavailable, outdated, or incomplete. This isnโt just inconvenientโitโs a strategic weakness.
In a world where data drives every sectorโfrom health to agriculture, from trade to educationโwe cannot afford to be blind. We cannot afford to lead a country using assumptions and approximations. The cost is too high.
๐๐จ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐?
1. The Department of Statistics must be restructured, properly funded, and held accountable for timely, relevant, and comprehensive data collection.
2. Data must be accessibleโnot just to policymakers, but to the public, researchers, investors, and development partners.
3. Lastly, we must foster a culture that values evidence over assumptionโone that understands that progress is measured not in speeches, but in numbers that reflect reality.
Because without accurate intelligence, we are not governingโwe are guessing. And Botswana deserves better than guesswork.
