19 Sep 2013

Kgosi Bobota Yokhwe of Phuduhudu in the Maun East constituency has said Basarwa are full of self-doubt and are not resilient when facing today’s challenges.

Speaking at a kgotla meeting addressed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr Frank Ramsden on September 16, Kgosi Yokhwe said government had put in place interventions to eradicate poverty in Botswana and yet they were not taking the programmes seriously.

He urged his people to take advantage of the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) programme. Kgosi Yokhwe further said the number of youth taking up youth programmes in his village was low.

“The youth have complained to me during kgotla meetings that they cannot access these programmes designed for them and I continue to encourage them not to give up,” he said. He further encouraged MP Ramsden to confer with government employees before addressing kgotla meetings, so as to iron out issues before they were presented to residents.

For his part, Mr Ramsden said he too was worried about the number of youth accessing youth tailored programmes. He indicated that his office had asked the Department of Youth to furnish him with a monthly report of youth applications.

“In the report, we want to know how many have applied, how many have been successful, how many have not been successful and why,” he said. Mr Ramsden encouraged residents to report to his office concerns that they might have and not wait for kgotla meetings. He further said government had taken the decision to eradicate poverty and such people should also play their part.

“If people do not take these interventions seriously, government may in future be forced to re-evaluate and probably re-direct those funds elsewhere,” he said. He informed residents that during the just ended parliament session, MPs sent back the proposed land policy for further consultations. “We had concerns with a section in the proposed policy that looked to set a quota for indigenous people in an area,” he said.

He indicated that MPs felt that all Batswana should all be treated equally and if the proposed quota came into effect it would be discriminatory. Mr Ramsden also informed residents that parliament had adopted a health policy that would allow people to get tested for every illness especially HIV and AIDS when they went to seek health services.
The Residents said they agree with the adopted health policy. They also said they did not agree with the proposed policy. ENDS