The electrification project at Chukumuchu is currently at tender procurement stage, while a similar project for Tsodilo was completed in November 2025 and the village connected to the national grid, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Ms Bogolo Kenewendo has told Parliament. 

Answering a parliamentary question on Monday, Ms Kenewendo said both projects were part of the current Village Electrification Programme through which government was targeting 112 villages under its rural electrification initiative. 

She noted that following the conclusion of the procurement and contract awarding processes, project implementation at Chukumuchu would commence as per the approved schedule. 

She  further said while electrification of additional villages in the district remained government’s priority, expansion to other settlements would be considered in the future, owing to budgetary availability and competing national infrastructure demands. 

She acknowledged that lack of access to grid electricity in remote villages in the broader constituency had adverse impact on service delivery and quality of life for public servants. 

However, she noted that the Ministry of Local Government and Traditional Affairs would be in a better position to respond on the issue of solar power plants in primary schools. 

The minister was responding to a question by Okavango West MP, Mr Kenny Kapinga, who had asked when the reticulation of electricity to Tsodilo and Chukumuchu villages would be completed. 

Mr Kapinga had further asked the minister if she was aware that public servants in a number of villages in Okavango West were living without a basic necessity such as electricity and that this terribly degraded the quality of their lives. 

The MP had also wanted to know if she was aware that most of the solar power plants built in primary schools were unserviceable due to failure to solve the battery problems, and how she would address the problem. ENDS