10 Apr 2025

Kweneng and Letlhakeng district leaders have been urged to work in harmony as they are tasked with producing National Development Plan (NDP) 12 projects.

Addressing leaders that included area MPs, councillors, Dikgosi and Village Development Committee (VDC) members in Molepolole on Wednesday, the Minister for State President Mr Moeti Mohwasa said working in unity would ensure they produce quality NDP 12 projects on time as bickering or arguments could only lead to unnecessary delay.

He asked the leaders to work with the National Planning Commission to plan for the country’s next development agenda to take the nation forward.

He said this was not a political venture but a national project, which called for all stakeholders to be on board.

Minister Mohwasa also called for mindset change, saying the country failed to use previous NDPs to address issues of poverty and unemployment.

He noted that it was unfortunate that the country enjoyed decades of opulence yet it was now faced with challenges at a time when the national purse had dwindled.

Mr Mohwasa said this meant everyone, not only politicians or public officers, have failed as the country, rich in natural resources, failed to accomplish the ideals of Vision 2016.

He said the next NDP should be people-centred and address unemployment and poverty. He said during their planning, they should envisage the Botswana they want to see in future, and not necessarily a country with best infrastructure with citizens living in poverty.

Mr Mohwasa pointed out that Botswana, with a population of 2.4 million, should not be struggling with unemployment, poverty and poor health services.

He reminded politicians that after five years, they would have to present their performance plans to the electorate for evaluation.

He said as the Transitional National Development Plan ends in October, the NDP 12 should be implemented in November.

Mr Mohwasa advised that the general population should be consulted, saying the government encouraged a bottom-up development approach as the people knew and understood their issues better.

“Involve local communities in the planning process to align developments with their interests,” he said.

He said as politicians, they were there to offer political oversight and therefore appealed to them to seek expert advice from public officers.

The minister reminded them to prioritise their projects as the country was facing financial constraints.

He said the councils should be empowered to come up with business initiatives, as they could not rely on government, adding that funds from the Constituency Community Projects (CCP) could be used for investment purposes.

He said this would help create revenue for councils, reduce unemployment and subsequently poverty levels would also decline. He said in the process, the councils would help generate the promised 500 000 jobs by 2029. ENDS