30 Aug 2017

Francistown Umbrella Ward Development Committee vice chairperson, Mr Kirby Bukha has raised issues that are affecting them to the local governance and social welfare committee on August 28.

Speaking at the consultative meeting recently, Mr Bukha revealed that they were concerned with the time the officers took to assist beneficiaries of government initiatives.

He said they realised that poverty eradication projects failed after being handed over to beneficiaries, and that sometimes they did not even start because the officers were not doing their job properly.

He said assessment was never done up to the required standard, saying in some programmes such as gender affairs, beneficiaries were given low quality equipment to start their businesses.

He said some were not even given full packages to start projects, adding that those left behind may come after a year and that they would be given reasons of lack of funds.

Mr Bukha said the long process discouraged beneficiaries to the extent that some ended up selling the equipment they already had.

He added that some beneficiaries were given projects that they could not handle, saying people were often given projects which they did not have skills for and that such projects failed prematurely.

He urged project officers to work closely with ward development committees, as they know their community better and could go back to assess and find solutions to solve the issues as they felt that government money was being wasted.

Another concern raised was that the youth abandoned their  projects and opted to take part in constituency tournaments and presidential celebrations.

“We have a problem, our youth are looking for a quick buck hence projects funded suffer. It is becoming a habit which we do not know how we are going to solve,” he added.

Mr Bukha expressed disappointment that projects were there to help people, but that there was no progresso, further urging officers to work closely with them during their assessments before awarding beneficiaries.

Responding to concerns raised by the ward committees, chief social and community development officer, Mr Ogoditsemang Seleme revealed that sometimes they were faced with challenges of funds and transport resulting in slow implementation of projects.

He said lack of commitment by beneficiaries was also a challenge, and that they were working hard to change the mindset of making quick money rather than working hard for success.

Mr Seleme said they were also faced with the lack of operational space which delayed the process of funding even when the beneficiary qualified to be awarded.

He urged families to support each other and refrain from individualism, saying it killed the mentality of Botho, something that he said had built the nation.

He encouraged officers to work hard despite the challenges of transport, adding that they must find other means to push projects.

Mr Seleme also appealed to the committee to amend the Adoption Act, saying it no longer represented the times and society of today.

He said the act was made in 1952 and caused conflict when addressing cases.

He said the Children’s Act also needed to be amended in order to compliment  the Penal Code.

Mr Seleme noted that they have children courts and that they have 121 cases which affect children.

He added that they had 18 cases of defilement and 23 cases of rape, some dating as far back as 2010.

He further said children’s courts would help children matters to be solved at an earlier stage. ENDS