21 Jun 2016

Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse, has urged young people in his Serowe North constituency to stand against poverty.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting on June 20, Assistant Minister Autlwetse  appealed to youth to utilise government programmes to uplift their lives. 

He reminded the youth that job opportunities in their villages  were slim, therefore they should commit to the programmes.

The MP challenged youth to emulate success stories of other beneficiaries and stay resolute to their course. 

Mr Autlwetse called on farmers to go the commercial route arguing the move would render Botswana self-sufficient in food, thereby reducing on import bill. 

He encouraged youth to consider farming as an avenue of accumulating wealth.

On other issues, the assistant minister reminded cattle farmers that it was their sole responsibility to care for their cattle, failing of which will be taken to matimela and auctioned. 

He explained that prior to enacting of Matimela Act, Batswana were extensively consulted and they gave the act a green light. 

Mr Autlwetse also informed his electorates that government had decided to kill without compensation all Zimbabwean cattle straying into Botswana as a foot and mouth disease control measure.

He explained that Batswana cattle straying into Zimbabwe and back would be killed and farmers would get compensation of P700 per head.

Recurrence would result in lesser compensation until farmers get nothing.

He was responding to one of the questions from one Otsile Otsholeng of Tshimoyapula who wanted to know why government continued to consider some cattle as matimela despite that they had bolus and computerised information about owners. 

He wondered why it was easier to identify owners during accidents when it was hard to find them when cattle just evaded owners. ENDS