27 Oct 2025

A total of 34,567 houses are currently under construction through the Bonno National Housing Programme.

Ultimately, the programme aims to deliver 100,000 affordable housing units nationwide, for citizens.

Addressing a press conference Monday in Gaborone, the Minister of Water and Human Settlement, Mr Onneetse Ramogapi explained that there were also 2,819 BHC Commercial houses, 4,743 BHC partnership houses, 58 Bonno Turnkey development scheme houses, 27,002 targeted housing by private investors’ houses and three houses donated toward attainment of the 100,000 target for Bonno houses.

Construction of the Bonno houses, he said, was made possible through partnership with private developers, appealing for the participation of the business community.

The press conference was meant to provide an update on the progress made and challenges faced by the ministry over the past 12 months in delivering its mandate that includes; housing development, water and sanitation and infrastructure, among others.

Currently, Mr Ramogapi said the ministry was faced with a challenge of unavailability of land and shortage of manpower to successfully accelerate the delivery of affordable housing across the country under the programme.

In line with the government’s promise to Batswana, to create 100,000 jobs, he said the ministry had so far created 3,392 jobs under water and sanitation. Additionally, Mr Ramogapi said the installation of Smart Prepaid Water Metres, outsourced to the private sector had also created eight 850 jobs.

The housing programme, he said, was expected to create 300,000 jobs, toward government’s promise to create 450,000 to 500,000 jobs within five years, across new and existing sectors.

Furthermore, Minister Ramogapi highlighted that about 1,225 BHC houses were currently under construction, generating 1,518 employment opportunities.
Of these houses, he said 557 had surpassed 50 per cent completion and were expected to be ready for beneficial use during the second half of the financial year.

“Additionally, 1,594 more units are at the pre-construction stage, further demonstrating the ministry’s commitment to addressing housing challenges,” said Mr Ramogapi.

Despite government’s commitment to meeting the diverse housing needs of the population and some private investors ready and waiting to hit the ground running, the minister expressed concern that the ministry still faced persistent challenge of non-payment and delayed settlement of water bills by some government institutions and other companies.

In an effort to ensure access to water by all, Mr Ramogapi said the ministry, through Water Utilities Corporation (WUC), introduced a Debt Amnesty Campaign to customers’ bills, from December 2024 and earlier, where customers could pay 50 per cent of their outstanding amount to clear the debt.

The campaign, he said saw WUC receiving water bills payments amounting to P405 million. ENDS