MINISTRY OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION Authority. International experience shows that the more autonomy and political latitude given to the regulator, the more successful the liberalisation process has been. This implies that an authority as independent of the Ministry as is legally possible should be established. However, considering the limited availability of professional expertise, and to enable both the Ministry and the regulator to operate effectively and avoid duplication of work, division of roles and responsibilities along the following lines should be made. Establishment of a Regulatory Authority reporting to the Minister responsible for Communications with its own Board of Directors to perform all the regulatory functions and handling some policy functions on behalf of the Ministry. The underlying principle is to separate overall long term policy making from practical regulatory activities and at the same time avoid building up expertise in more than one organisation by making available to the Ministry expertise in the Regulatory Authority for its policy formulating role. In order to emphasise the regulator's independence from the ministry in its day-today regulatory activities, the Board of Directors should appoint its own Chief Executive and be given the power to issue regulations and licenses as well as settling of disputes. Furthermore, decisions of the Regulatory Authority should not be able to be overruled by the Minister but could be appealed against to the High Court. Liberalisation of the telecommunications sector requires new legislation as well as amendment of the existing Act. The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Act of 1980 needs to be amended as a first step and could at a later stage be repealed if Government wishes to change the status and/or ownership of BTC. The first step wlll entail amendment of the sections of the Act dealing with BTC's exclusive privileges to provide telecommunications services in Botswana and power to issue licences and regulations. This amendment will enable the enactment of new legislation for introduction of competition and establishment of the Regulatory Authority. Those parts of the Act which establish BTC as a Government corporation will not be an obstacle for the liberalisation process. 28 TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY FOR BOTSWANA