30 May 2022

Kgosi Isaac Dipuo of Gasegwagwa has applauded government for putting in place  programmes that improve Batswana’s lives.
Speaking to BOPA in Gasegwagwa recently, Kgosi Dipuo said different government programmes such as Youth Development Fund (YDF), Poverty Eradication as well as Constituency Community Projects funds had positively changed lives in his village.

Kgosi Dipuo said Village Development Committee (VDC) had recently completed construction of a multi-purpose hall, which would generate revenue for the village.
He said the hall would be booked for weddings, meetings and other events at a fee.
 “The proceeds will then be invested in other different projects hence creating employment for the locals,” he said.

He said a number of residents were employed during the construction process and currently two night watchmen had been hired to guard the premises.
Kgosi Dipuo indicated that the hall would also help keep the youth off the streets, adding that they would be motivated to form recreational clubs, such as boxing, drama and badminton, since they now had the venue to host competitions.

“During constituency competitions our youth would now be in a position to partake in a number of different events,” he said.
Pertaining to other programmes such as YDF and poverty eradication, Kgosi Dipuo said the lives of those who had benefitted had greatly improved.
“Some managed to connect water and electricity in their homes with the proceeds from their different projects,” he said.

He said those who were recently funded through YDF had bought their sheep and goats from others in the village who were funded before them.
“This is great because it is the same as killing two birds with one stone,” he said.
He highlighted that other programmes such as Tirelo Sechaba had also assisted in keeping the youth off the streets, noting that they acquired skills from their different posts.
“These programmes keep the youth from social ills such as crime, alcohol and drug abuse,” he said.

However, he said there was need for Tirelo Sechaba beneficiaries to be empowered such that upon completion of their term, they would have something to do and meaningfully contribute to the economy.
“They could be trained in different courses such as entrepreneurship,” he said.

Kgosi Dipuo decried poor standard seven final results, noting that most of the pupils ended up failing to make it to senior schools from junior secondary school.
This, he said would in the long run affect development of the village.
In an effort to arrest the situation, he said they were in talks to source funds and hire tutors who would assist in improving results hence nurturing future leaders.

He said they had also made a request to the Southern District Council to build a computer lab at the school to make learning much easier.
 “Our children would then have unlimited information which will help them improve in their academic performance,” he added.
Kgosi Dipuo said the bad state of the road connecting their village to Mmathethe–Kanye road affected developments, noting that investors were deterred by the road from investing in the area.
Transportation of yields from farms in the area to the market, he said was also negatively affected by the state of the road.

“We are hopeful that the road would be tarred in the near future,” he said.
He said slow allocation of residential plots was one of the main concerns in the village, noting that the last allocation was in 2015.
He indicated that the delays in allocation of plots would bring conflicts in the future as some youth had resorted to building houses in their parents’ yards which could bring challenges during distribution of inheritance in future.

“I foresee a situation where those who built houses in their parents’ houses would need a bigger share and most siblings would obviously be against that. Some said they had no choice but to build since they work contract jobs and by the time plots are availed they might be unemployed,” he said.

He appealed to Water Utilities Cooperation to address the bad smell and taste of water in the village.
Kgosi Dipuo urged all those who benefitted from governments programmes to take their projects seriously as they could improve their lives. ENDS