03 Jun 2018

The founder and president of Mabaila Foundation has been praised for his compassion and commitment to improving the lives of Batswana.

Speaking during the foundation’s donation in Mogoditshane on June 2, deputy permanent secretary to the Permanent Secretary to the President, Mr Ernest Phiri said the commitment was not only confined to the village as Mr Tshephang Mabaila has assisted Batswana living in other parts of the country.

He said by helping others, Mr Mabaila was helping the government to realise its goals as it alone could not reach all Batswana given its limited budget.

Mr Phiri further said it was important for people to live healthy lifestyles, saying this however does not require them to join expensive gyms.

This, he said, could be done through undertaking household chores and walking to work.

He said people should frequently visit hospitals for medical checkups as diseases could be detected before they got worse.

Mr Phiri, who was speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary to the President, said they should follow the prescribed nutrition and never to skip a meal.

Mr Mabaila has refurbished the post office situated in Mogoditshane, provided toilets and also provided a shade to be used by the elderly when they received their monthly pension.

He said they would get benches for the post office in due course.

He further gave the elderly blankets, donated five bicycles to the office of the Member of Parliament and awarded P10 000 to Mr Carter Morupisi’s  R7 Group Foundation.

Mr Mabaila said 50 blankets were donated by former president, Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama.

He said the foundation has also built a toilet for an elderly woman and would  also assist students by building a library in the village.

The purpose of the library is to offer students a conducive learning environment and hence improve their results.

For his part, the chief commercial officer of BotswanaPost, Mr Clifford Lekoko said they welcomed the developments.

He urged Mr Mabaila to encourage his peers to assist, stating that post offices countrywide were in dire need of maintenance.

He apologised for the slow pace of paying pensioners which resulted with long ques, and said their system has been upgraded and that long lines would be history. Ends