20 Jun 2017

By not participating in the upcoming general elections, residents of Mosokotso will be denying themselves constitutional right to vote, Kweneng District Commissioner, Dr Temba Mmusi has warned.

This comes after the villagers threatened not to vote during elections, saying they were being denied access to government services and developments because they were residing in an un-gazetted area.

“I plead with you not to deny yourselves the right to vote. Mosokotso has not been recognised as a village, but my wish is to ensure that you benefit from government programmes to better your lives,” he said.

Dr Mmusi noted that their dignity would not be compromised on the basis that they lived on an unrecognised settlement, adding that they would continue to be assisted with services related to health and agriculture.

The district commissioner also urged them to refrain from depending on hearsays, citing reasons advanced when an event that was scheduled for Mosokotso was cancelled at the last minute, thereby leaving residents in anger.

This included rumours on threats to demolish their structures as they were illegal occupants, to which he said procedures would be followed by both the sub-landboard and the main board and that they would be notified if any demolishing is to take place.

Meanwhile, Ms Ellen Eyman of Hope World Wide Botswana shared that Miss Botswana, Thata Kenosi, through the organisation’s  facilitation, had identified Mosokotso as one of the villages where she would undertake her project for the Miss World pageant.

However, on the eve of the event to hand over the porta cabin, the event was called off due to the status of Mosokotso being an un-recognized settlement, hence not suitable to host such an event.

Ms Kenosi had partnered with Debswana to provide a playground for children and a porta cabin was to house children when teaching them life skills and providing early child stimulation for those at kindergarten stage since there was no day care centre at Mosokotso.

He said it was important that they educate themselves on what the National Settlement Policy says including requirements qualifying a settlement to be declared a village.

She such information would help them to make informed decisions.

He also advised them not to carry out any developments such as construction of house as they might incur costs, should the decision whether to allow them to reside there or not turn out not favour them.

Earlier on, in his welcome remarks, Kgosi Poloko Ntebang had expressed concern that Mosokotso was not growing in terms of developments.

He said their great grandparents had long settled there from Dithejwane Ward in Molepolole, hence Mosokotso should be declared a village.

He also cited challenges of water shortage, which he said affected children’s school attendance. BOPA