12 Nov 2013

Government has been called upon to intervene in the registration and issuing out of Omang Identity Cards to Basarwa particularly in Letlhakeng East constituency.  

Commenting on the State-of-the Nation Address in Parliament on November 11, Member of Parliament for Letlhakeng East, Mr Liakat Kablay raised a concern on the high numbers of Basarwa who did not possess ID cards, which he said deprived them the right to benefit from government policies and poverty eradication programmes .

He attributed the problem to the illiteracy and also the nomadic lifestyle of the Basarwa.  Mr Kablay said a lot of Basarwa in his constituency grew up as farm labourers and did not know the significance of Omang cards. He said the situation was worsened by the high penalty fees that one needed to pay when they applied for an ID card outside the 30 days grace period after  turning 16 years old.

He therefore urged the government to intervene in coming up with a waiver that would exempt the less privileged society from paying penalty  fees when applying for ID cards at an older age. Mr Kablay said government need to consider that there has been a mindset change in many Basarwa as they are now keen on participating in all government programs including working for Ipelegeng as well as participating in general elections, but they are however currently hindered from doing so by lack of Omang cards.

Mr Kablay further said  the Vision 2016 pillar of an informed and educated nation will be a wild goose chase should government not consider an alternative model  that will ensure that government information reaches all Batswana despite of their location.

He said many Batswana in rural area heavily depended on government’s  DailyNews paper to be informed of  government policies and vacancies, hence raised a concern about  the  distribution of the paper in his constituency saying  it did not  reach the  remote villages  of Diphuduhudu, Shonono, Boatlaname, Ngware, Malwelwe and other settlements.

He said it was disturbing to note that the paper was in abundance in urban areas while in people in rural areas did not have access to it. He urged the Ministry of Health to assist in transporting the DailyNews during their back and forth referrals to hospitals from settlements.

Mr Kablay also decried of the working condition of the tribal leaders in Letlhakeng , saying the area did not have a customary court office following the collapse of the customary court building in the area.  

Furthermore, Mr Kablay called on the government to come up with programs specifically geared towards empowering people with disabilities.  He said people living with disabilities do not benefit from programs like Ipelegeng as they cannot affectively be productive in manual labour works.Ends