Nkange residents cry foul over lack of development

PATRICIA MAGANU
Staff Writer | Friday May 8, 2009 00:00

When Mmegi took a tour of the constituency last weekend everyone complained about lack of developments in the area and they felt that their votes always go to waste and so there is no need to vote for anyone.

Some residents blamed others for not being objective at election Time, stating that they voted for people because they knew them and not because of the candidate's capabilities.

Residents cried that once people are voted into office they forget.

all about what they promised the people and they start to work at getting wealthy and putting their children in expensive schools and opening shops or bars.

'It's like a ritual that an MP or a councillor should have a bar or a shop in this area,' said one frustrated resident in one of the villages. Nkange Constituency consists of several villages that should be fairly visible on the map but that seems not to be the case and residents think that politicians are compromising their villages' future by not living up to their promises.

Villages with big names like Nkange, Maitengwe, Senete, Changate, Tutume, Nswazwi, Goshwe, Dagwi, and Matobo are all in Nkange constituency. It is not a small constituency.

Tutume Sub-District is part of this constituency and residents there cannot help but think that their village, which is the centre of several government services, has been left out.

SENETE:
Not much has changed in this village since 1995.  There is not a single sign of improvement from what was there then and now as far as development is concerned. The thing is that people in this area seem to know why the developments in the village are lagging behind.

Senete is one of those villages that people pass through on their way to other villages like Maitengwe or Tutume or Nkange and because of that it should have made much more progress.

Residents of Senete feel that the development of their village is being compromised by the fact that the councillor is from the opposition party, while the MP is from the ruling BDP.

Regardless of what the reasons may be Senete residents reveal that they have seen very little development in the past decade.

At the first shop in Senete it was very sad because there was no sign of anything happening. People were just coming to the store to buy small items like meat or bread and mostly they were either walking or cycling.

What was interesting was that as soon as development was mentioned in their village they all wanted to say something about their leaders and the village's state of underdevelopment.

Most people who were complaining about development are youth who say that sometimes they feel let down when they see how other villages have developed since Botswana's independence in 1966.

One of the youth who was at the shop doing some work outback said that he has been living in Senete the whole of his life and he is yet to see the village 'grow into something to write home about'.

Solomon said that the thing that shocked people in Senete was that the clinic was moved from where people had access to it to a place where not many people can afford to access it.

'The clinic has been moved so far away from the main road that people prefer to go to a clinic in Nkange and pay fees than walk to the clinic in the forest,' he said.

He said that the clinic was moved to create space but the people have never known what the space was needed for because nothing has been erected there.

The residents say that besides moving the clinic the only other thing that was done was make the road called Dziba la Makhiya through the drought relief programme.

'The road was made through drought relief and the only thing that was done was putting soil and not gravel on the road,' he said.

Another resident, who preferred anonymity, said that there have been no developments and that people have to pay transport fees to go to the clinic because where the clinic is now it is very far but the village is being terrorized by elephants and criminals.

'Not many people go to that clinic,' he said.

He said that as for other developments the village has nothing to boast.

He further stated that the people of Senete should stop voting unfairly.

'The people of Senete should start electing people they know will do the job and stop voting for a person just because they are related to them,' he added.

At the moment Senete is under the leadership of BAM-BCP. Councillor Tabona Saulo has been a councilor there for the past 15 years and the residents say they are yet to see the developments he promised to bring.

In Nkange South in the 2004 elections BAM, represented by Tabona Saulo, won the councilor seat with 516 votes beating BDP and BCP by 186 votes and 235 votes respectively

NKANGE/CHANGATE:
From Senete to Nkange is only about six kilometers and the difference between the two villages is so vivid. When one first drives into Nkange they would immediately assume that the village is doing much better probably because in Senete the problems are so obvious.

Nkange and Changate are swimming in the same boat. Even though the people in Senete have to go to a clinic in Nkange, the clinic is also not much because people in that area have to go to Tutume to get proper medical help in cases like maternity.

Tamocha Jomo a resident of Nkange says that the residents have to travel to Tutume to get proper medical help.

'That is never easy because the roads have pot holes and unfinished road jobs and people have to travel to Tutume to get any kind of service' he said.

For several years, Nkange has been known to have a problem of water and to this day the residents cry that they have serious problems with the lack of water.

Jomo says that the Maitengwe 12 boreholes are not that reliable and at first they could cope because they were promised the situation would get better.

'We knew that Ntimbale dam would come and save us from this problem but up now we have not seen any improvements or heard anything. We do not even know any village that is benefiting from the dam, may be some villages are but not us,' he added.

Another Nkange resident, Phuthegang Balu, shares the same sentiments that Changate-Maitengwe road and Maitengwe water wells are some of the issues that most people need to be updated on but the councillors are not doing that.

He says that Nkange Clinic should be expanded because a lot of people also from other villages look toward that village for health care and they end up getting disappointed.

'Health facilities are still a concern in this constituency,' he said.

Residents of Nkange say they feel that as a central and administrative location for the Nkange constituency a market place will assist the small-scale business in terms of providing a conducive market place for their products.

Nkange-Changate village roads are still in poor conditions and residents say that the expectation was that it would be done by now.

One young woman who had been listening in holding a baby said that she failed form three about three years back and she had not had anything to do since then until she had a baby.

She further said that she and a lot of youth not only in Nkange but also in surrounding villages had been waiting for a youth centre where they can be kept busy and probably get opportunities for jobs but until now there has not been a youth centre in any of the villages.

'I am now a young single mother because I could not get out of here and I did not have any opportunities,' she said.

In Nkange South the ward went to BCP when Jesi Dema beat Nelson Tsayang of the BDP and Balashiki Macheke of BAM by 467 votes to 391 and 76 votes respectively.

MAITENGWE/DAGWI:
Like all of those villages maitengwe residents also share the general feeling that in the period 2004-2009 nothing much was done in terms of developments in their constituency.

One resident Moeti Joel says that now with this recession, which the government also claims to be a victim of, the future looks bleak.

'Our leaders' performance went down and some of the developments that took place during this period were a just a result of time factor rather than people's efforts. With the change in leadership that is going to happen after the elections we remain hopeful that our constituency will develop,' he said.

He further told Mmegi that Maitengwe had been on the waiting list for a police station for several years now. Maitengwe is large village, which sits at the border, and one would assume that the village would much more advanced than most villages.

One would also wonder why for a village that shares the border with Zimbabwe would not have a police station. Some of the things that haunts maitengwe residents at the moment is stock theft and serious crimes like rape and robbery and the residents believe that these crimes are committees by none other than our neighbours from across the border.

'A feasibility study was done and it was said that the size of the land initially earmarked was too small and therefore a need to look for another plot but our feeling is that this is taking too long and our leaders are not doing enough to ensure that a plot is secured.

We now have a border gate and as a result a police station is really needed,' said Joel.

Another resident Tlhaloganyo Kaisara said that though the Maitengwe water wells project was completed and they now have large water reticulation tanks, the main concern is that private water connections, which were stopped before the project started, have not yet resumed.

'The majority relies on public standpipes though most of them can afford private connections,' said Kaisara.

The last census of 2001 showed a growth in the population of Maitengwe and declared it as 'a large urbanising village', but what do they have to show for it?

'Up to now we do not have a community hall, though we understand it is the responsibility of the VDC, it is also that of the councillor to ensure that it is done. The community has long requested this to be done but in vain,' he lamented.

Maitengwe residents worry that there is no constant communication between their leaders and the community. Like all voters they lament that they only 'see their leaders non-stop' when it is election time so they can vote for them again.

'We see them when it is election time and then from there communication breakdown crops up.'

Dagwi village relies much on Maitengwe but it is not a small village. By now Dagwi Village should have its own resources and resource centres, at least some of them but most services, including health care, so  residents have to trek to Maitengwe or Tutume for medical attention.

In Maitengwe North, the ruling party took the seat when the BDP, represented by Island Molobe, scooped 300 votes with a wide margin of 197 from the BNF followed by BAM (90 votes) and BCP (39 votes).

Maitengwe South the BDP still proved top be strong when Isaac Omphile beat Boy Chipaladza of BAM and Russia Vakajwe of BCP by 53 votes and 191 votes respectively.

TUTUME:
Throughout the villages people are crying about development but when you get to Tutume the concern just becomes that Tutume is supposed to be the centre of development in that area as the sub-district headquarters. Driving into Tutume nothing will alert you that his is supposed to be the sub-district headquarters unless you already know.

This has not gone unnoticed to residents of Tutume who cry that at his point in time it should be at the same level as towns like Palapye but the development there has been stagnant.

Tutume boasts a primary hospital, council offices, a police station and several other offices but for a village like that one there should be much more.

It should just be booming with development but Tutume like most villages  in that area still looks the same way it did about 15 years ago.

Other smaller villages would even shame Tutume, now.

A resident of Tutume, who wishes to remain anonymous says that the  politicians compromised Tutume otherwise it should have been developed more than it is now.

He said that once people get the taste of power they do not want to move but there are also not bringing developments.

The past MP was in power since 1966, for 36 years but we have not seen much that he has done and now his wife is following in his footsteps after being nominated a specially elected councillor and now she is also a candidate.

'People just want power and money. This thing in Tutume has never been about development. The developments that are coming here are simply from the government because Tutume is a services centre not because some politician said something,' she said.

She further remarked that something should be done about politicians who stay for too long without bringing any visible development because eventually they become too comfortable.

Like the residents in Nkange Tutume residents say they would like a market place.

'Now there are stalls all over the place and it is not clean.'

Tutume consists of many villages that are within the village but also  has to cater for other villages as far Maitengwe, Sebina, Nshakazhogwe and more.

On the positive side of things the long awaited Tutume-Mosetse has finally been tarred and electrification of the villages was a good move but residents feel that primary schools should be electrified wholly instead of just electrifying administration blocks and new classrooms.

In Tutume the BDP and the BCP were going head to head when they each scooped two constituencies. While the BDP proved to be untouchable in Tutume Central and with Tjishaba Chilume winning and Tutume West with Mokgethi Ishmael, BCP retained Tutume East and Tutume South, beating BDP and BAM by significant margins.

As for Parliament, Ambrose Masalila of the BDP retained the seat with 4,246 votes by beating Batisani Maswibilili of BCP who got 3,176 votes and Gideon Kaelo of BAM who received 1,355 votes.

Nkange Constituency is one of those areas that need serious attention.

For a constituency as big as Nkange it is hard to believe that there is representation there, the people are just idling and seem to know that their votes are ever going to waste and have learnt to live with the disappointment.

For someone to stay in power for 36 years shows that there is a problem with the voters. They have given up voting for someone who can deliver but they seem to just vote to be part of the program, which is pointless.

Two Members of Parliament (MPs) in that constituency had stayed in power for 36 years until the 2004 elections and when they finally bowed out, their wives headed to the council.