Plight of street children haunts outgoing Council Secretary
Leinanyana Tsiane | Friday June 26, 2015 15:09
Despite the achievements he made in implementing a number of projects, Molepolole regrets that the township is still grappling with the numbers of street children who roam the shopping complexes in search of leftover food. He said in terms of GDC projects, which include orphanage, destitute and also service delivery his office has done well.
“We have completed planned projects within budget and according to specifications. We have also been very prudent with our accounts with our books whereby we were able to present our well balanced books before the Local Authority Public Accounts Committee,” he sad.
Molepolole who also spearheaded the Nyeletso Lehuma said he leaves the GDC a happy man after seeing to it that the projects have taken off and that some of them are doing very well. He said the well-coordinated Qabo Poverty Eradication projects in Ghanzi District have alleviated poverty in most households in the settlements and villages.
But his detractors have accused him of being a political activists, something he denies. Molepolole said he is aware of rumours have been doing the rounds in Gantsi that he is a member of UDC but said it is not true. He said he is a friend and an acquaintance with some people in political circles and even said he knows people who have been spreading rumours.
“But this wont stop me from being friends with some politicians. I wont let anybody to dictate to me whom to hang out with and whom not to. I have known some people in politics since long time back so I can’t turn my back from them now that they are ion politics,” Molepolole said.
He also said he is a man of integrity and says his mind if the need arise. He also denied that he is being pushed from the public service because of his affiliation with UDC and said his contract ends at the end of this month and was not renewed.
Molepolole who is being showered with accolades for having improved the ratings of Ghanzi Council from number 16 to number 3 countrywide explained that the good performance is the result of hard work, commitment and unity by staff members. However, one thing that disheartens him is the issue of children on the streets and said the local authority has over the years tried to address the problem and find a solution to it. His wish was that GDC would continue to work hard to resolve it
Molepolole revealed that he is not a bitter man, as some people perceive but said he has been working for the public service for a long time and it is now time for him to rest and enjoy his retirement.
“I have worked in different places areas and it is time that I go home and rest. I have ventured into small stock farming and I have to give my family quality time now,” he added.
He also said working with Gantsi community was a real pleasure and said they have a great sense of humour and very corporative and will never put anybody under pressure because they are aware that sometimes resources are limited.
The outgoing Station Commander of Ghanzi Police Supt Molobe shared Molepolole’s concerns about the number of street children, which he attributed to the developments and infrastructure mushrooming in the township.
He said these children always roam around the shopping complexes to look for food in the rubbish bins adding that some of them are school dropouts, whilst most of them come from Bosele and Meriting wards.
“Most of these children are under 12 years and in essence they should be at school but they prefer the street than school. Currently there are about 70 children on the streets,” Supt Molobe said.
He said they talk to the street children to make them see the importance of schooling and the dangers of eating from the bins. He said they have engaged volunteers to disseminate information to the public about the situation and said they started the exercise a month ago.
However, Molobe said the Police have embarked on public education to try and curb this adding that they have also engaged shop owners to desist from allowing these children to push trolleys on behalf of customers, or giving access to rubbish bins where they eat leftovers.
To assist the local authorities with dealing with this problem, Kennetse Kahuadi of Window of Hope Centre said the NGO rounds up these children and feed them food, offer them counselling and also give them clothes. She said the centre takes care of 60 children and their ages range from five years to 17 years.
‘‘We have seen the plight of these children so we took it upon ourselves to give them three meals a day and in the afternoon they go to their respective homes,” said Kennetse Kahuadi.
Molepolole said that he tried for years to address the problem to find a solution to it but was hopeful that other stakeholders will address it sooner.