27 Jul 2020

Gwezotshaa and Nata Sanctuary Conservation Trusts have appealed for training of elected board members on administration and financial management prior to them taking office.   

They said this during a consultative meeting with Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on wildlife,Tourism, Natural Resources and Climate Change in Nata recently.

Gwezotshaa trust chairperson Mr George Maphane, representing Gweta, Zoroga and Tsokatshaa said trusts were not realising intended results, noting that often there were issues of mismanagement of funds, which resulted in their collapse.

He added that because there was lack of accountability and monitoring, there were no one is  ever held accountable for misused funds, not even board members.

He pointed out that in their case, there were such issues of mismanagement of funds and government ended up taking away CT 11 concession, which was leased to the trust for the benefit of the community of the three villages.

Mr Maphane said it was unfair for communities since those who mismanaged the money from the concession should be held accountable.

He thus proposed that since people elected to run trusts more often were individuals without any specific qualifications, while some were from poverty-stricken backgrounds, there was need to take them for training on management.

He added that some people believed that their lives were to change for the better through funds generated, aiming to enrich themselves at the expense of communities.

He stated that in some cases, when elected officials were not able to get what they had hoped for, abandoned positions in the board, leading to the collapse of the trust. 

He said it was then imperative that monitoring and constant audits were conducted for immediate detection of wrongs before board terms ended.

Committee chairperson, Mr Polson Majaga said they had been conducting hearings to get firsthand information to use to advise Parliament on how best trusts could be helped to run smoothly for the intended benefit.

He said they had managed to interview some trusts, and visited some to appreciate their successes and challenges. 

He said with the Covid-19 pandemic, the economy had been severely affected, and the tourism sector as one area that inject revenue, needs to be revitalised.

He noted that post Covid-19 stakeholders need to come on board and share information on how to boost the sector, adding that policies on human/wildlife conflict needed to be looked into and amendments be done. ENDS