09 Nov 2023

The Member of Parliament for Kanye North, Mr Thapelo Letsholo, has commended the Kanye branch of Head Mountain Apostolic Church in Zion for its role in building the nation through efforts such as assisting the needy and disadvantaged in the community.

Mr Letsholo said this in his remarks at the the church’s harvest celebration which was organised over the weekend to raise funds to upgrade of the church premises.

He said the church had demonstrated responsibility in the welfare of the community and other issues of national concern.

He commended the leadership of the church for its cooperation with government, pointing out that this was crucial as the church was an important institution in society, and a partner in addressing social ills.

He urged the congregants to use the government programmes to empower themselves, and fight poverty so that they can contribute towards the nation’s development and realisation of Vision 2036 goals.

He said the government was committed to ensuring that the country maximizes harvest for this year’s ploughing season through the introduction of Temo-Letlotlo programme, which has since replaced the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development. He described Temo-Letlotlo as a worthy programme, which people can significantly benefit from when used properly, as it is hoped to propel the country towards food self-sufficiency.

He disclosed that more than P500 million had been invested into the programme with the aim to equip farmers with knowledge on the best farming practices and assist them to acquire farm implements on a cost -sharing basis and support them to produce food for subsistence as well as to feed the nation. 

He advised the congregants to visit their field officers for full information about the programme.

Mr Letsholo urged them to also prepare for the upcoming Thuo-Letlotlo whose focus would be animal production, and is set to be unveiled next year.

He said he was pleased that construction of the long awaited, 150-bed hospital in Kanye had commenced as the contractor had been engaged. However, he said, the process was still at the initial stage.

He said other major projects included the stadia in Kanye, Ranaka and Ntlhantlhe.

Apostolic Faith Mission of Botswana’s chairperson, Mr Tshepo Serame, advised the congregants to consider tithes as a way to source funds from the church members.

He said as mainline churches, traditionally they have been reluctant to seek more fund from the congregation which has funds, which left the churches struggling financially, thereby compromising development of the church.

While sharing the history of the church, Church Elder, Mr Olefile Gabanakgosi, traced the church’s origins to 1939 at Sophiatown, South Africa where it was formed by Bishop Toi Toi Smarts Mthembo, adding that the church later grew to other parts of Africa, including Zimbabwe and Malawi. He said Head Mountain Church was registered in Botswana in 1974. ENDS