06 Mar 2016

Lobatse youth have been encouraged to set their priorities right if they want to succeed in life.

Chairperson of Basha Entrepreneurs Association who is also a managing director of HD Electronics, Mr Lucky Koama, said this during a youth career fair organised by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (MYSC) in Lobatse.

Mr Koama said most youth had no plans for the future while others had no idea of the career paths they wanted to follow. 

He added that the few that may want to venture into enterprises end up being disadvantaged by lack of proper planning on how to execute their dreams.

He further said goals were important as they gave directions of where one wanted to go in life. 

Mr Kaoma noted that programmes like National Internship Programme, Graduate Voluntary Scheme (GVS) and Tirelo Sechaba (TS) only exist to equip the youth with the necessary skills and as such they should look beyond these programs and use the skills acquired for permanent employment and starting their own businesses.

He added that discipline was a very important aspect in life as it was a bridge between goals and accomplishments. He said with discipline, one is able to stay on purpose despite all the challenges faced.

Mr Koama encouraged the youth to associate themselves with the relevant people to help them achieve their goals and use available government programs like Youth Development fund (YDF) and Citizen Entrepreneur Development Agency (CEDA) to venture into their own businesses and bridge the unemployment gap.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, specially elected councilor Mr Bruno Masisi said although the youth were mostly affected by unemployment, government is trying by all means to keep the youth engaged through programs like TS, GVS and Internship, adding that however, these programs are not permanent employment.

Then objective of the career fair was to give youth an opportunity to interact with different stakeholders to get advice on the career paths they can follow at the end of their TS and GVS programs. He hailed the fair saying it will help give them the direction in life.

Boswelatlou Ward Development Committee chairperson Mr Raymond Mahloane encouraged the youth to stick to their goals and and ideas as well as to make it a culture of being good communicators.

He also encouraged them to work hard in their host departments so as to be absorbed for permanent employment.

Present at the career fair were other stakeholders such as Botswana Prisons Service, Botswana National Library Services, Lobatse Brigade Centre, Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies and Botswana Christian AIDS Intervention Programme.  Ends