04 Dec 2015

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama says he is pained by the recent natural disaster that left two people dead and many homeless in Bobonong.

However, he said he was happy that those that were affected were assisted, and that the process of assessment has not been completed. President Khama was addressing a kgotla meeting in the village yesterday (December 3).
 

He said those whose houses were destroyed would be assisted by building them houses and appealed to those carrying out the assessments to complete the process before Christmas. Concerning the issue of cross border crime between Botswana and Zimbabwe, President Khama said he would engage with his counterpart to arrest the issue.

Although the issue of opening the border has long been discussed, he said the country was facing economic challenges.

He noted that the country has deployed the Botswana Defence Force and members of the Special Support Group to man the border as a way of curbing crime.
President Khama said Botswana would continue to engage with her neighbours to address the issue of cross border crime, adding that a meeting would be held between Zimbabwe and Botswana early next year.

President Khama said the meeting would be headed by the area Member of Parliament, Mr Shaw Kgathi, who is also the Minister of Justice Defence and Security.

President Khama noted that the country worked well with Zimbabwe on the issue of Foot and Mouth Disease and that Botswana was helping her neighbour to vaccinate livestock against the disease. He added that Botswana was paying half of the cost with Zimbabwe paying the other half.

President Khama was answering concerns from Kgosi Mmirwa Malema who raised concern about cross border crime.

Kgosi Malema also appealed to President Khama to engage his Zimabwe counterpart to open the border between the two countries, saying it would help to curb crime in the area.

President Khama donated 1 500 cans of beef from Botswana Meat Commission to the families affected by the recent disaster. He also donated 30 chairs to the kgotla, Bibles to different churches and tracksuits and kits to various sporting teams in the village.

The Village Development Committee chairperson, Mr Boitumelo Kgosietsile commended the government for infrastructure developments such as the Thune Dam. He said there was a need to upgrade the Bobonong Primary Hospital to a district hospital to cater for the growing population in the area. Ends