21 Nov 2018

Member of Parliament for Mogoditshane Mr Sedirwa Kgoroba has called on government to declare some urban and peri-urban areas as special crime zones and come up with a special measures to fight crime in such areas.

“It’s a pity that the alleys that I used to traverse even during the darkest of nights as I was growing in Mogoditshane, today I can no longer traverse even during the broad daylight, he said.  

Responding to the State-of-the-Nation address on November 20, MP Kgoroba stated that Batswana could not continue to live in such an environment. 

“One of the reasons Botswana is found far below in certain global indexes is the fear our people live under because of crime,” he stated. 

MP Kgoroba said such places as Mogoditshane needed a serious beefing up with regards to policing and law enforcement, adding that Mogoditshane had experienced a number of gruesome killings, which he said ‘were evidently aided by the absence of lighting or visibility’.

Furthermore, he advocated that it was imperative that a special budget be allocated as soon as possible to combat crime.

He also raised a concern about unemployment in his constituency, saying nine out of 10 youths were unemployed. 

MP Kgoroba called for the government to come up with a roadmap to resolving the conundrum that is unemployment.

He said jobs that would offer people decent quality life and reasonable standards of living needed to be created.

Likewise, MP Kgoroba suggested to the government to balance incentives between the young and the near retirement employees, saying the near retirement in the public service could be offered financial grants in certain specific sectors such as farming on condition that they take early retirement so that they pave way for the youth.

Regarding education, he was of the view that the quality of education was the worst. 

“Government feed people with the worst quality of education. 

We cannot develop, compete in the global space, have a sustainable economy, be innovative and be self-sustainable,” he argued.

He said the quality of education could not even compete in the SADC region, adding that it was a deliberate ploy to render people unable to compete with the rest of the world so that government continues importing expertise, also that Batswana would remain dependent on the ruling party.

MP Kgoroba pointed out that he had long advocated for end to automatic progression, but the motion that was tabled and passed in 2014, had not been implemented yet.

“Complacency, poor delivery and sense of entitlement are all products of culture that has been compromised by reward without merit,” he said.

Meanwhile, MP Kgoroba also called for a financial management to be introduced at all levels saying deficiency runs across all classes.

He was of the view that Batswana are poor and highly indebted, as most ‘live from hand to mouth’. 

He also called for salary increase.

MP Kgoroba further decried  shortage of land, noting that there had been no land allocation in Mogoditshane since 1994.

He urged the minister to address the issue, saying he had written a letter to the President four months ago, but he was still yet to receive acknowledgement.  ENDS