19 Nov 2014

Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC) executive committee chairperson, Mr Benedice Sibanda, says there has been concern from the public that the council is not visible enough.

Speaking in an interview at the handing over ceremony of a vehicle for their office in Tutume on November 17, Mr Sibanda said they had been receiving negative feedback from the public regarding their presence and their work with the youth.

He said during consultative meetings with their stakeholders, it had come out that people could not differentiate between BNYC and the department of youth under the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture. 

Mr Sibanda noted that this was a result of failing to reach out to the people to share on their mandate, hence the youth, in particular, seemed not to make use of their offices nationwide.

He said they had seven centres and 10 offices, which were set to cover places that are far reaching from the main centres. Because of challenges of transport, Mr Sibanda added that their officers have been failing to reach out to the youth, hence an outcry from the public. 

He highlighted that from their fleet audit of 2012, most of their vehicles were boarded and it was then that at the time, they started replacing them.

They decided to include offices, which did not have vehicles as way of empowering them as well as to improve their mobility. So far, he explained that they have sourced 17 vehicles and six have already been distributed to their respective offices such as Bobonong, Francistown, Palapye and Selibe Phikwe. 

Other offices, which will be issued with vehicles, include Maun, Gantsi, Hukuntsi and Tsabong as well as Ramotswa. With such developments, he said their aim is to reach out to as many places as possible and engage with their main stakeholder; the youth.

He also stated that Tutume office will also receive two additional computers to add to the eight they already have, and they will be installed with internet, which will enable free training for youth on Information Communication Technology (ICT). Appreciating the vehicle, the Ward Development Committee (WDC) chairperson for Thini ward, Mr Kenosi Munyamane said they hope and believe that with the availability of transport, the officer will be able to reach out to their youth. 

He noted that most of their youth do not know about BNYC and with the improvement, they anticipate that there will be improvement between the office’s interaction with the youth and the general public. ENDS