25 Mar 2024

Electrification for Kacgae and Bere has not been considered for the financial year 2024/25 due to budgetary constraints, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi has told Parliament.

However, Mr Moagi said the ministry would continue to explore other viable options such as off-grid solar solutions to electrify these villages.

He said technical assessment for the two villages was done to determine requirements for electrification.

Mr Moagi said population sizes of the two villages stood at 746 and 874 respectively, therefore, the villages would require among others, the construction of a 66Kv transmission line over a distance of 150km and associated substations to be connected to the grid.

He said it was estimated that electrification of these two villages would cost in access of P200 million against a total budget allocation of P200 million.

“Therefore, due to budgetary constraints the villages have not been considered for electrification in 2024/2025 financial year.”

He said the budget for Rural Electrification Programme of the financial year 2024/25 was P200 million to cover network extensions and new villages.

Ghanzi North MP, Mr John Thiite, had asked the minister if there were any plans to connect Kacgae and Bere villages in the Ghanzi constituency to the Botswana Power Corporation power grid.

He also wanted to know when this connection would be undertaken and how much the project was budgeted for. Ends