Failure to attend meetings worries MP

Oct. 18 -- By Tshiamiso Mosetlhe MOLEPOLOLE - Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Daniel Kwelagobe, has criticised residents of Masilwana ward in his Molepolole South Constituency for not attending kgotla meetings and failing to register for the election over claims that some of them were terminated from destitution programme. Mr Kwelagobe said it was a shame for some Bakwena, who still raise concerns on the streets instead of articulating them in kgotla meetings to get clarifications. He said such people denied themselves their rights and government assistance programmes which were fully elaborated in kgotla meetings. Mr Kwelagobe, who started the meeting more than one and a half hours late, said Batswana culture was getting eroded. He said Botswana has been an envy of Africa in practicing values of freedom of speech, peace and stability, democracy and self-reliance but lack of attendance at kgotla meeting was weakening the consultation ethic. He underscored the fact that kgotla meetings served to disseminate information about development programmes. He said about voter apathy that over the years, Batswana registered for the election without complaints over food rations, saying some were not even receiving any assistance from the government. He said the government had given them freedom and opportunities to vote for any party or representatives of their choice. �Ba batla go rekwa ka dijo go ikwadisa, ke tshwanelo ya lona go ikwadisa��, he said, meaning that some people wanted to be rewarded with food rations if they registered for elections. Mr Kwelagobe also briefed them about shortage of water in Molepolole government�s strategies to arrest the situation. Mr Seelo Modukanele, the agricultural demonstrator in Molepolole, appealed to farmers to register with his office office, the idle fields that they wished to lease out. Mr Modukanele said farmers who did not have fields but wanted to use the National Master Plan for Arable Agriculture and Dairy Development could rent the fields of land owners who were unable to plough. He told the residents about the subsised prices of seeds. Commenting, residents decried shortage of water in Molepolole and reluctance of someo register for the 2009 general election. Mr Poloko Motlhobogwa, the councillor for Sebele, said some companies in Molepolole which he named for allegedly denying their workers permission to register for elections. Employees of such companies started work early and knocked off late. A youth who spoke at the meeting told Mr Kwelagobe that she was denied an opportunity to venture into small stock by a veterinary officer on pretext that she was childish. �Ke lekgarebe gaa kake a disa dipudi�, she claimed the officer said. This means she is too smart and cannot look after goats. BOPA