26 Aug 2018

The Botswana Police has donated a house to Ms Keweditse Letlhogile  in Kweneng East.

The house is the third to be donated in a short period following the two that were handed over in Lentsweletau and Mahetlwe respectively.

Speaking during the handover ceremony, commissioner of Police Mr Keabetswe Makgophe said the accomplishment did not in any way suggest that the police had  lots of money but they did that because of charity. He also stressed that community policing was evidenced by projects of these nature as they prevened crime.

He further said housing a needy family gave that particular family dignity and provided a healthy and conducive environment for the upbringing of children.  Secondly, a home provided security for the family.  In this way he said, children were able to be brought up in a dignified way, therefore preventing them from becoming criminals in future.

He however mentioned that as the police, they were concerned by high crime rate in Mmopane.  He said it had been observed that most criminals were protected by their parents.

Mr Makgophe said just recently criminals attacked employees of a Chinese company that offered to build a state of the art primary school in Mmopane Block I .  By so doing he said the criminals would chase away potential businesses from their village and there would be no employment opportunities as a result.

He also indicated that in Mmopane Block 1 alone for instance, in 2017 there were 18 recorded housebreak-ins , adding however that from the beginning of the year to date, 28 cases have been recorded.

  As for robberies, four cases were recorded in last year and this year, there are 11 cases thus far.  This, he said showed how crime was rapidly increasing  in the village.

For his part, Kgosi Kgari III commended the police for the donation.  He said the police had designed a number of programmes that served as platforms to engage with the community.

He said it was time for the community to introspect and find ways to also engage with the police to fight crime.  He also urged the public to desist from accusing the police where they were lacking but instead they should talk to them in a more civil and sensible manner and understand why they coiuld not be serviced well.

For his part Divisional Commander South Central Mr Matthews Letsholo said that it was their obligation to make sure the community they served was safe hence they engaged the village leadership and all the relevant stakeholders to select a needy family in which their gift in the form of a house will serve its intended purpose.

 The beneficiary was selected last year and they got sponsors to erect the fence, stand pipe, toilet and the whole process of the construction of a two bed-roomed house as well as furniture.

When receiving the gift, Ms Letlhogile said  she was overjoyed and never thought someday, together with her family, they would live in a modern house.  The family lost their mother some time back and were registered as orphans as a result.  ENDS