04 Oct 2019

Electrification of Mabesekwa is expected to improve lives of residents and create business opportunities in the settlement.

Speaking in an interview, Kgosi Tshwaro Masisi of Mabesekwa thanked the government for its efforts to continually extend the grid countrywide.

He said electrification had positive effects on the living conditions of many households as it made lives easier while it also boosted business opportunities thereby creating employment.

Kgosi Masisi thus appealed to residents to connect it to their homesteads once the settlement is connected to the grid.

On other issues, he said NDP 11 had a good package for his settlement which lies about 97 kilometres west of Francistown.

Kgosi Masisi also talked about the need to upgrade the 67-kilometre Tonota/Mabesekwa road to bitumen standard saying the gravel road was in a bad state.

He said the road had created temporary employment for his people who depend on the Ipelegeng programme as the only source of employment.

He also commended the government for posting police officers to his settlement saying the increasing rate of crime in the Mabesekwa was disturbing.

However, he decried alcohol and drug abuse in the settlement saying alcohol abuse among both the young and old was high.

“The settlement has only one bar, but the rate of alcohol is very high. This is due to some illegal beverages which some residents brew secretly in the settlement,” he added.

Kgosi Masisi further explained that efforts were made by the local leaders by holding meetings with the concerned parties to stop brewing such traditional brew but to no avail.

He explained that due to the high rate of drinking, some parents had abandoned their responsibilities of bringing up their children.

He said what was disheartening was that a number of young people had been prosecuted for offences such as common nuisance, street fighting and  insults.

He also explained that stock theft was also a serious problem in his settlement adding that this year alone he presided over two cases of stock theft in which some young people were accused of stealing two goats while the other one involved two cows.

On other issues, Kgosi Masisi advised residents to prepare themselves for the next ploughing season.

He said many farmers in the settlement were small-scale farmers who needed continued assistance. He, therefore, urged them to take advantage of the government’s provision of free seeds and fertilizer.  Kgosi Masisi also said through coordination and uptake of government programmes by the residents, the country would prosper. ENDS