04 Dec 2018

Vice President Mr Slumber Tsogwane says Botswana remains the safest place to live, invest in and enjoy the peace that prevails in the country.

Responding to the State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on December 3, Mr Tsogwane said that Botswana had been rated as the first globally favourable destination.

“This is so despite emerging global trends in human trafficking, organised crime, trans-boundary crime and we continue to strive to bring crime rate down,” he said.

He said that the security of the citizens, investors and their property remained government priority, saying a number of police stations were being built in strategic areas across the country as well as putting up forensic laboratory of an international standard to adhere to modern standards of investigation.

Furthermore, Mr Tsogwane said that there were implementations of safe city initiatives as well as reviewing of laws to ensure that there were deterrent to crime perpetrators.

Regarding the issues mentioned in the SONA, Mr Tsogwane said it gave a full account of the present and future, among others social, political and economic aspects, the challenges and offered solutions to address the challenges.

He therefore dismissed the leader of the opposition and the leader of the minority, saying their speeches were confirming issues raised by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, only that they added more poetic flair.

He pointed out that Botswana developmental trajectory was not only seen and appreciated by Batswana, but also by those from independent review structures such as the World Economic Forum, World Bank, Afro Barometer, which have consistently ranked Botswana well in a number of key areas.

He said that the Sustainable Development Goal 1 addressed poverty eradication as Botswana had since 2010/11 came up with programmes geared towards poverty eradication.

“We are not there yet, but we are starting to see the impact, with poverty incidences having dropped to 16.3 from 19.3 per cent, abject poverty going down from 6.4 to 5.8 per cent and some beneficiaries successful and ready to graduate” said Mr Tsogwane.

With regards to education, Mr Tsogwane said that the sector had grown in terms of access, saying in 1966 Botswana had nine secondary schools and today there are 291 including private schools, leaving the country as the leader in SADC region as far as access to education is concerned.

As for Ipelegeng programme, Mr Tsogwane said it was not a permanent employment, but a stop gap aimed at cushioning the public against temporary challenges.

“And it is not only Ipelegeng, but also Rural Development Programmes for peculiar areas as a way of offsetting the areas for improved community resilience,” he added.

Regarding his constituency, Mr Tsogwane said Boteti West was lagging behind in terms of development.

He nevertheless stated that he was hopeful that the mid-term review of NDP 11 would present and opportunity to prioritise.

“It is my hope that the constituency will be considered for projects that we desperately need” he stated.

He said the Boteti West desired the long waited water project connecting their villages to be implemented.

He also mentioned that the roads would be considered for construction and that the Remote Area Dwellers Settlements would be connected to the National grid to supply them with power. ENDS