19 Sep 2016

The chief executive officer of BonaLife Insurance, Ms Reginah Sikalesele-Vaka says as the country celebrates 50 years of independence, there can be no doubt that it has achieved a lot in terms of stable democracy and economy, education, health and infrastructure.

Speaking at the launch of the Francistown East community development trust on September 17, Ms Sikalesele-Vaka, however, said one of the disadvantages of the achievements was that people tend to depend on the government instead of being self-reliant. 

She said when the country was still poor people brought up their families with the little they had. Ms Sikalesele-Vaka noted that there was free education, medical care and other things that were not free in other countries. 

She further explained that the decline in mineral prices has resulted in the economy not thriving as it was, and that there was a rise in problems such as unemployment. 

She pointed out that the government was struggling to diversify the economy which shows that the country was not making progress as it did in the past 50 years.

Ms Sikalesele-Vaka applauded Francistown East MP, Mr Buti Billy for coming up with the initiative of forming a community development trust because even though the country was rated wealthy there were people who still live in poverty.

She implored other stakeholders to work with the MP to achieve the objectives of the trust as they could build a better nation if they worked together. Ms Sikalesele-Vaka said at BonaLife insurance they have partnered with the community to give them insurance policies they could afford as they understand the standard of living of Batswana.

For his part, Mr Billy said he found it fit to start a trust because as the people’s leader he has to leave a legacy behind that would uplift and better the lives of the marginalised and vulnerable members of community.

Mr Billy called on everybody to partner with his office to change the lives of the people, to promote social change and create a conducive environment for everyone to live in.

He further said some of the objectives of the trust are to build houses for the less privileged and fight against HIV/AIDS.

In her welcome remarks, the mayor of Francistown, Ms Sylvia Muzila applauded the MP and said it was a great initiative as it unites the community and helps in the realisation of the Vision 2016 pillar of a united and proud nation.

Furthermore, Ms Muzila said the trust would help address the problem of unemployment in the city. ENDS