13 Jul 2014

The elderly have played a big role in the development of this country and therefore should never at any point be neglected, President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has said.

“These people are very important in our lives as they have taken care of us, and it is now our turn to take care of them,” he said.

The President said this when donating blankets, Bibles and solar energy lights to the elderly, the needy and people living with disabilities at Nkoyaphiri in Mogoditshane on Saturday, July 12.

He said his interaction, donations and dinner servings must be an example for all to know that it was important to take cognisant of the existence of the these people and the need to take care of them. He said the elderly played an important role as they gave guidance.

“For this country to be enjoying the democratic rule it is enjoying now, it is because of the role that these elderly have played and therefore the need to always appreciate and care for them,” he said.

He said government was working around the clock to find a way to improve the current support systems for the youth, the needy, the elderly and people living with disabilities.

He said government was working on policies and programmes that were geared towards improving the lives of these groups and were looking into employing focal persons who would be solely responsible for the implementation of these programmes.

President Khama encouraged the community to also put a hand and make it a habit to assist the needy and the elderly in any way possible. “If all Batswana could find it essential to put an effort in assisting these people, we would go far as a country,” he said.

Kgosi Pheto Motlhabane of Nkoyaphiri decried of shortage and maladministration of land in his area. Kgosi Motlhabane said it had been a long time since landboard repossessed farms and never re-allocated residential plots to the affected persons.

He also pointed out that there was water shortage in his area, adding that the matter had been made worse by the closure of standpipes. He also pleaded with President Khama to consider increasing the traditional leaders’ salaries.

In his response, President Khama said the arrangement for the public to phone ministers came as one solution to addressing problems that were raised by Kgosi Motlhabane.

He encouraged all to read the DailyNews paper and pay attention to the page that gives all the information on the numbers and times allocated to personally phone various ministers.

He said he believed through the phone in programme, a lot of problems that the public faced with would be resolved. ENDS