02 Nov 2016

Poor attendance of kgotla meetings could deny Batswana an opportunity to benefit from government support programmes.

Kgosi Obusitswe Solomon of Mmamokhasi Ward in Kanye lamented during an interview with BOPA that poor attendance of kgotla meetings in his area was so common that it had become a cause for concern.

“Government uses kgotla meetings to take citizen empowerment programmes to Batswana; therefore failure to show up at such gatherings can deny them a chance to benefit,” said Kgosi Solomon.

He said some people would only attend if the object of the meeting was to employ Ipelegeng workers so that they may benefit as well.

“This defeats the essence of our kgotla system of governance and community development,” he said, advising that Batswana should appreciate that kgotla meetings offered them a platform to discuss issues affecting them and give feedback to policy makers.

On young people, the traditional leader raised concern that they abused their parents both physically and emotionally.

 He said many parents were now living in fear of being assaulted by their own children under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

He thus urged dikgosi, parents, teachers and members of the community to work together to arrest the situation.

Kgosi Solomon furthermore encouraged Mmamokhasi youth to take advantage of the available business plots in the area and better their lives through the available government assistance programmes.

 He observed that some businesses lacked exposure because they were operated from home; therefore encouraged entrepreneurs to apply for the available plots for better returns.ENDS