28 Jun 2018

Government is committed to creating a positive environment that will permit  young people to unleash their talent.

Officially Opening the seventh Youth Leadership Training Programme organised by Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung Foundation recently, Assistant Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, Mr Moiseraele Goya said government recognised that young people were endowed with many gifts and talents and all that was required was the necessary support and guidance to allow such talents to flourish.

He said young people were the future and carried the hopes and aspirations of the country.

Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung is the oldest of Germany’s political foundations committed to the basic values of social democracy and the labour movement.

Its mission is to promote democracy, development, social justice and peace through capacity building, policy research, public dialogue and international exchange.

Mr Goya, who is also MP for Palapye, said it was important that young people were groomed at an early age to acquaint themselves with challenges such as international politics, social justice, economic development, sustainability and labour market policy.

“Your participation must sharpen your ability to discuss and engage in decision-making by improving your other leadership qualities to take part in enriching political maturity needed to ensure democracy, rule of law and prosperity for Botswana,” he said.

He said he trusted that the training would bring to the fore an entrenchment of the country’s national principles of democracy, development, unity, self-reliance and Botho, adding, ‘these principles are the main features and ingredients of our democracy and are also essential to youth development as they depend on pluralism and mass participation’.

A leader, he said must always demonstrate and show humility and modesty.

Mr Goya added that a good leader must also demonstrate a particular brand of himself hence should aim to be the best brand ever.

He said the fact that the young generation was better educated gave hope for a prosperous future, hence there was no justification for them to allow negative tendencies to rule their lives.

He however, said the only challenge was that some youth were not positioning themselves well to be able to grasp opportunities on offer.

For his part, former Palapye MP, Mr Boyce Sebetela commended Friedrich-Ebert for organising training for young people, adding that the success of a nation was not premised on natural resources.

He said if a nation could develop its people to become its greatest resource, then there would be a social setting that could turn anything into money.

He said for young people to be given knowledge to understand the environment they work in, they must make a meaningful contribution in their respective communities.

Mr Sebetela said if they promoted the quality of their respective communities, that would translate into the quality of the country.

He informed those who represented political parties that no political party was bigger than the Republic of Botswana and therefore young people should think progress, listen and engage other political parties.

Mr Sebetela encouraged them to embrace socio-caltural values such as the Setswana adage, moroto wa esi ga o ele, which translates to seeking diversity and enlisting others’ ideas and efforts if one wants to be successful. ENDS