21 Feb 2017

Parliament has been informed that the Botswana University of Agriculture and National Resources (BUAN) has accommodated a total of 99 staff members, comprising 26 lecturers and 73 support staff. The Assistant Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Security, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse said a total of 68 academic and support staff members are currently on the waiting list for accommodation.

A total of 16 staff members, he added, are accommodated on a sharing basis.

Mr Autlwetse said this in response to a question from the Member of Parliament for Gaborone-North, Mr Haskins Nkaigwa in Parliament on Monday. In addition, the assistant minister said ‘BUAN encourages staff to own houses as a basic need’ and the university has negotiated with the Botswana Building Society, Standard Chartered Bank and Barclays Bank to offer staff non-guaranteed mortgage loans at lower interest rates.

“As a strategy to provide accommodation for BUAN staff, funds permitting, effective 2018/19 and the subsequent years for NDP 11, housing units for staff have been included as part of construction of faculty buildings and facilities per Physical Master Plan developed for BUAN,” he said.

Gaborone North MP had wanted the minister to state the number of lecturers and support staff currently accommodated by government at BUAN, the number of those on the waiting list for accommodation, those accommodated on sharing basis and to state the strategies in place to provide accommodation for all at BUAN.