20 Aug 2017

The Assistant Minister of Investment Trade and Industry Mr Biggie Butale says stirring the church to national transformation is an encouraging phenomenon to government.

Speaking at a National Transformation Prayer Conference in Gaborone recently, Assistant Minister Butale said great efforts had been made to mitigate national challenges but far from the winning line, hence a multi-dimensional approach to the challenges required.

He noted that notwithstanding the progress made, the spiritual and moral challenges among Batswana remained worrisome.

Assistant Minister Butale stressed that vulnerability to social ills and moral degradation threatened the integrity and identity of the society.

He said the theme of the conference, ‘Raising Agents for National Transformation,’ coincided with reports depicting a worrying trend that the society was troubled by substance abuse, corruption, teenage pregnancy and general moral decadence.

Mr Butale said these would have a negative bearing on the prosperity and well-being of Botswana.

“God has the solution to all the challenges,” he said, adding that Botswana was founded upon biblical values as it was even depicted in the national anthem.

Minister Butale also said the world was witnessing a phenomenal advancement in technology and the society was experiencing a remarkable social and cultural change.

He said the agencies of socialisation, which used to transmit beliefs, that also influenced world views and values and traditions such as the family, the church and schools needed to be empowered to play that role, “but sadly the voice of those agencies is being replaced by new technology, social networks such as the Internet,

Facebook, twitter, TV and therefore we are generating a new psychological and social dislocation in the way we think about life in general and interpersonal human relations.”

The assistant minister said technological devises, even though they had their positives, had brought in the destructive and disintegrative instincts which provoked greed, unlimited self-gratification and absence of moral restraints in the society.

Mr Butale said the nation was changing negatively and something must be done and applauded the church for the transformation initiative.

The social values committee which formulated the National Strategy for the Promotion of Good Social Values of 2008 affirms that cultural and religious values have been eroded by modernisation.

Mr Butale said government was interested in working with the church to enhance existing programmes for character building and behavior modification among the youth.

The conference, hosted by Intercessors for Botswana was attended by government officials among them Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and

Economic Development, Mr Solomon Sekwakwa, Gaborone High Court Judge Justice Tshepo Motswagole, traditional leadership, pastors, and two guest speakers from the United States of America and Uganda. ENDS