16 Mar 2014

Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Mr Vincent Seretse has informed residents of Masunga that government remained committed to addressing the high unemployment rates, especially among the youth.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Masunga recently, Mr Seretse said it was for this reason that several youth empowerment programmes had been put in place.

Citing such programmes as the Youth Development Fund, Tirelo Setshaba and the poverty eradication initiative, he stated that government would continue to work tirelessly towards ensuring a better life for every Motswana.

The assistant minister pointed out that among the strategies adopted to reverse the tide of unemployment, government was doing all in its power to encourage, promote and nurture the spirit of entrepreneurship among Batswana.

This, he said, was being done with the view to helping Batswana not only to feed themselves and their families, but also to play a significant role in job creation.

Mr Seretse indicated that wooing foreign investors into the country had also proved a viable exercise that could greatly speed up efforts to bring unemployment under control.

However, the assistant minister admitted to being aware of concerns by some grown-ups that government’s focus was more into assisting the youth to the exclusion of the older members of the population.

On this matter, he urged all to note that no citizen had totally been cast aside in efforts to make life bearable for all Batswana.

He said some programmes such as ISPAAD and LIMID had no age restrictions in terms of eligibility; thus imploring Batswana who could not benefit from some government programmes on account of age to not despair as government had put in place some programmes from which they too could benefit.

Commenting on the assistant minister’s address, residents raised various concerns for which they called for sustainable solutions.

Mr Pius Mokgwathi complained that government appeared to be paying lip service to issues of poverty eradication.

He said failure by government to take seriously the African Union (AU) conferences on food security was clear enough a sign of Botswana’s lack of commitment towards attaining self-sufficiency in food production.

This, Mr Mokgwathi observed was despite the fact that the country had been blessed with key resources necessary for food production such as land.

Another resident, Mr Elias Mbonini raised a concern about the ongoing power crisis; calling for government to explain to the nation what the problem really was.

He said with the resources at the disposal of government, it was saddening that the country still depended on other countries for its power needs.

On another matter, Mr Mbonini attributed the laxity of some public servants to carry out their duties exceptionally to government employees having gone for over five years without any salary increments.

He attributed the low morale exhibited by some public servants to that status quo.

Another resident, Mr Alfred Letsholathebe expressed discontent at what he termed failure by government to properly manage public funds.

He said it had become a culture for projects not to be completed on the reason that funds had run out; saying there was need for the situation to be looked into to assess if there was prudent use of funds set aside for projects.

Mr Letsholathebe said what was disheartening the most was that the public was never given any satisfactory answers and explanations on the apparent misuse of funds; observing that time had come for government to exercise due accountability to the nation. ENDS