16 Jul 2020

Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Eric Molale, says government has stopped  COVID-19 food relief package.

Addressing a press briefing in Gaborone on July 14, he said he consulted district authorities about the package and came to conclusion that it should be discontinued.

“We have since agreed to discontinue the programme,” he said. However, Mr Molale assured the nation that government would not leave any Motswana hungry saying those who needed assistance would be served under existing programmes.

Programmes for destitute people, orphans, vulnerable children and people living with disabilities would continue.

Mr Molale also said there were some irregularities in distribution of food.

“We have also received a lot of complaints that some people unduly benefited,” he said.He said the ministry was conducting an audit of the entire exercise.

Furthermore, Mr Molale said he was satisfied about how the assessments were conducted, adding that they were inclusive and elaborative.

“We were spot on. We made mistakes at the beginning, but we learnt along the way. That was the essence of the exercise. In recent memory, we have never done a countrywide exercise of this magnitude.

As a ministry, we have learnt so much about the sophistication of our population,” he said. Meanwhile, coordinator of the food relief programme, Mr Gabriel Seeletso said there were lots of positives and shortcomings that came from the exercise.

He said the exercise would assist the country in future planning in the case of future catastrophes.

Mr Seeletso said over P350 million was disbursed to cover cost of the relief programme.  

The amount was made up of the initial provision of just over P150 million  and the recent disbursement of P200million.  

Furthermore, Mr Seeletso said a total of 429 255 households benefited from the programme.

He said final accounts of the programme were being prepared by the respective councils and auditing of the same would follow.  

“Any outstanding balances will be dealt with accordingly,” he stated. ENDS