22 Nov 2017

Bobonong Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Shaw Kgathi has extolled President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama for his style of leadership, labelling him as democratic, disciplined and patriotic.

Mr Kgathi, who was contributing to the response to the State Of the Nation Address (SONA) in Parliament on November 21 said Botswana had moved forward in many areas during President Khama’s tenure of office.

Mr Kgathi who is also the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, said his constituency had benefited from the many developments that took place during the President’s term of office.

Among those he cited were the electrification of the 10 villages in Bobirwa, the implementation and completion of the Bobonong internal roads project and Thune Dam, as well as the construction of Semolale Police Station.

Nationally, Mr Kgathi said a lot had been achieved during the president’s term of office.

He said while many countries had retrenched workers during the global economic downturn of recent years, Batswana had been spared such due to the visionary leadership of President Khama.

He observed further that it was during President Khama’s administration that conditions of services for magistrates were improved through among others availing them security.

Additionally, he highlighted the opening of Directorate of Public Prosecutions offices in Maun, Lobatse, Francistown and Palapye; adding also that special courts such as the stock theft and mobile traffic courts were also introduced during his tenure.

Mr Kgathi also stated that there had been a significant reduction in crime during the president’s term.

For his part, Okavango MP Bagalatia Arone also hailed President Khama for having led the country well.

On arguments that government had failed to create jobs for Batswana, Mr Arone noted that there was no country in the world that employed all of its people.

He observed that it was as such unfair to say government had failed its people in this regard as such a feat was not attainable.

Mr Arone also indicated that the issue of skills mismatch would always be there as the world was forever evolving.

He said it was thus critical for all to realise that change was a part of life that needed to be embraced.

Mr Arone, however felt that Botswana was undertraining its people, pointing out that presently there were many foreigners working as lecturers in tertiary education institutions.

He suggested that to address this, degree holders be re-trained and re-skilled so that they could take up the lecturing jobs at tertiary institutions.

He said it was also important that that the country stopped offering diploma courses but instead turn institutions offering courses at that level into faculties of the existing universities.

Tlokweng MP, Mr Masego Segokgo opened his response to the president’ speech by thanking the residents of Tlokweng for having voted him in to replace the late Ms Same Bathobakae.

Making his contribution, Mr Segokgo lamented the shortage of doctors in Botswana’s hospitals, something that he observed government was not doing much to address.

He said it was disheartening that given the shortage, doctors were still being taken out of their daily duties to become administrators such as hospital superintendents.

The MP also decried the shortage of housing for teachers.

He said that coupled with low salaries and shortage of stationery contributed to the continued poor results by learners across the different levels of the education system. ENDS