21 May 2017

Vice President, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has urged civil servants to take services to the communities so that they could develop themselves and ultimately benefit the country.

Mr Masisi, who was addressing a kgotla meeting in Bray on Friday, said it was disheartening to always address same issues every time a kgotla meeting is held.

The Vice President pointed out that it was paramount for civil servants to always make development plans well on time and good budget estimates to avoid a situation where budgets and plans would be made at a kgotla level.

He said this would help government to make wise decisions when availing services to the people, adding that it would also help in avoiding a situation where too much money is wasted on short term developments.

This came after the residents complained of shortage of land in their village, which they said hindered their village from enjoying government initiatives meant to help them get out of poverty.

They also divulged that their village had acute shortage of water. Residents of Bray pointed out that unlike in other villages, they could not even access programmes such as LIMID because they did not have pastures as their village was locked between private ranches, pointing out that officers always told them that for that reason they could not be given small stock.

Mr Masisi lamented that although the issue of shortage of land was old news, it was still puzzling to hear that no positive progress had been made thus far.

He advised community leaders and residents to find a common ground on solving the issue of land through consultative meetings with owners of ranches surrounding their village.

The Vice President advised them that they should bear in mind that, the population would always increase in numbers while the same cannot be said about the land, urging them to consider options like re-locating to other places.

Further, he said even ranch owners should know that at some point they have to come to the party in finding a lasting solution to the issue of land as a few individuals should not enjoy all the benefits while multitudes suffer.

He said that government would do all it can to find the best possible solutions to their problems. ENDS