20 Jan 2016

Kgosi Rebagamang Rancholo of Nata has urged heads of departments in Tutume Sub-district to be open to the village leadership and have constant communication of what is happening at their departments.

Speaking at a consultative meeting with the Member of Parliament (MP) for Nata/Gweta Mr Polson Majaga on Tuesday, Kgosi Rancholo noted that as service providers, they should not have a gap between them and the village leadership.

Curbing the gap, he said, would address situations in which issues could have been resolved internally through constant updates and information sharing. Kgosi Rancholo further noted that being up to date with issues or challenges at different departments could help them to be in a better position to respond on behalf of officers if something was being raised as a concern on such meetings with either the President or ministers.

In addition, he pointed out that they had situations in which they had to mediate because officers would have felt offended after being reported or to the leadership by members of the public.

“Let us be a team, which plays a vital role to serve the nation instead of being enemies,” he said. Furthermore, Kgosi Rancholo pointed out that it was time that the Village Extension Team (VET) be visible and functional, noting that as a team, they had not undertaken any projects.

He added that it was imperative for their presence to be known and felt by their clients, emphasising that working as team would also help them iron out issues of concern in their respective departments so that they could improve service delivery.

Meanwhile, the area MP, Mr Majaga said having such a meeting with the managers was to improve service delivery to the constituency, which has about seven villages classified under Rural Area Dwellers (RADs).

He stated that many people are still worried by the standard of service they receive from government offices and it will be through such meetings that they are able to address areas of concern so that all can be pleased with services offered at different offices.

Mr Majaga further stressed that there is a serious concern from the government that despite issuing different programmes aimed at improving the livelihoods of Batswana, youth in particular, which constitutes about 60 per cent of the country’s population are still faced with high unemployment.

He said it therefore raises questions of whether they are given or served accordingly to make use of government programmes to create their own employment and even for others.

The MP therefore noted that through such platforms, they will be able to come up with initiatives to tackles such areas of concern.BOPA