Happy Christmas, Goledzwa!

Mmegi Editor | Friday December 23, 2016 11:41

Everybody is in rush the world over as people are preparing for a well-deserved break from hardwork. Botswana is not an exception and as majority of our people are Christians, they will join their fellow Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Sunday.

 But this will be a difficult festive season for most of Batswana as many are besieged by socio economic problems.

This year was a testing one as tens of thousands of Batswana had the unfortunate experience of losing their jobs. These people have now joined the dreaded ranks of unemployment. Their beneficiaries were looking up to them to provide basic necessities in life but it is now over.

It is a devastating story indeed. But life continues and just like last year or any other year before people around this time are busy travelling to different destinations.

Like we always do, we encourage fellow citizens to exercise caution in the roads. The message from the police is always the same: drive safely, especially during the festive season.

Criminals take advantage of the so-called silly season to help themselves to other people’s properties. We should take the fight back to these criminals the change to steal from us. The spirit of neighbourhood watches in every community should be revived. The idea is to have zero tolerance of crime. We must nip it on the bud.

Since most people are travelling, the high risk of road accidents is ever present. In fact road carnage is a major problem. Since last month, so many precious lives have been lost in our roads.

That could be changed if we obey traffic laws and respect each other on the roads. Vehicle road-worthiness is very crucial. Drinking and driving is discouraged at all costs. Please do not be a statistic. It is not cool to drink and drive.

The police should take stern actions against the culprits. We should not be a nation of drunkards and druggies. We had enough incidents in which alcohol and drugs contributed to the road carnage in some of our major roads.

Although 2016 was a very tough year socio-economically, we have not lost hope that 2017 could be a better year.

Let us all make 2017 a fruitful, productive and rewarding year. That is if we all contribute for a better Botswana. All those who lost their jobs should stand up and face the challenge with more vigour. We take this opportunity to wish our valued readers and advertisers a Merry Christmas and as they say, Goledzwa.

The year 2017 is upon us and we shall meet again.  The first edition of Mmegi would be on January 10, 2016.

Today’s thought

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection”