02 Nov 2017

Assistant Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Kefentse Mzwinila has implored the youth to take the initiative in improving their lives.

Mr Mzwinila said this at a kgotla meeting in Francistown on Tuesday when addressing Satellite North residents.

He said it was imperative that the youth should take part in helping the government to improve their livelihood.

Mr Mzwinila said government has introduced initiatives aimed at improving the lives of the youth, and that it was upon them to utilise the initiatives.

Mr Mzwinila also noted that unemployment was the biggest challenge faced by the youth in the country, and explained that programmes such as the Youth Development Fund (YDF) were introduced to improve their lives and create employment for others.

He said it was the responsibility of his ministry to ensure that the youth were educated enough to run their own businesses, and that resources were availability for them to start their businesses and create markets for youth businesses.

Mr Mzwinila also said his ministry prioritised youth engagement as well as character building in order to give the youth opportunities to improve their lives.

Giving a ward development committee report for Francistown East constituency, Mr Odirile Ngenda said youth unemployment was a major challenge that needed to be addressed.

He implored the youth ministry to increase training for programmes such as the YDF and the youth grant, adding that beneficiaries complained about not receiving enough training.

Mr Ngenda also noted that beneficiaries complained about the monitoring of projects by the ministry, saying it was slow and unsatisfactory even though beneficiaries needed continuous guidance and assistance.

Responding to the report, deputy permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr Kgopotso Ramoroka said the ministry would look into increasing the time frames for programmes training provided funds were available.

On the monitoring of projects, Mr Ramoroka explained that there was a schedule for the monitoring of projects, but said because there were many projects to be attended to, they faced challenges of time availability.

He assured residents that the office would work on improving consultations, but also advised beneficiaries to visit their offices when in need of assistance. BOPA