23 Nov 2022

Ngami Member of Parliament, Mr Carter Hikuama has called for implementation of innovative development ideas for government to improve the livelihoods of ordinary citizens.

Contributing to the ongoing debate on State of the Nation Address, Tuesday, Mr Hikuama said given a myriad of challenges facing the nation, focus should be on addressing issues that revoked a sense of hope through a comprehensive strategy that addresses poverty and unemployment.

The MP said while he had personally been excited by the Reset Agenda and mindset change becoming a national priority, he had since been disappointed that government continued to function using old bureaucratic systems.

He said putting into action the Reset Agenda is what was necessary to drive the country forward, adding that priorities set forth by President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi could be achieved through mindset change.

Mr Hikuama emphasised the importance of rural development for a developing country like Botswana, adding that the Remote Area Development Programme existed to improve rural livelihoods even though ‘on the ground had little or no activities in the Ngamiland area’.

He also called for a comprehensive rural water provision scheme, which he said could significantly reduce social inequalities as water was critical to development.

Additionally Mr Hikuama expressed support for the government protecting domestic farmers by banning vegetable imports.

He called for the agricultural service centre in Gumare to be completed for it to service the region.

He also said the roads in Ngamiland was in a poor state, and called for the speedy construction of the Gumare-Sepopa and Dinokaneng-Gumare roads.

On education, he said schools could not be conducive for learning if the environments lacked resources.

He, therefore, said the school management should be empowered to run schools and be able to deal with issues of indiscipline by pupils and other decisions critical to progressive learning.

He also suggested incentive packages for teachers in remote areas to attract and retain them since no one was willing to work there.

Given the importance of early education development to learning outcomes, he said government could benchmark from countries such as Finland by allowing private pre-schools to enroll children through Public Private Partnerships.

He said according to UNICEF, 43 per cent of children aged 0 to 5 years had access to early childhood education was because their parents had the means or could afford to take them to school.

He welcomed the introduction of mother tongue as a medium of instruction in the country’s school system, saying it was long overdue. ENDS