Serowe farmers angered by lack of cash
Bonte Seepi | Tuesday August 8, 2017 16:06
The farmers were not happy that there was no prize money for the winners.
The sponsors of the show were the Citizen Entreprenurial Development Agency (CEDA) and Botswana Couriers who contributed P50,000 and P60,000 respectively.
However, the money went towards the purchase of trophies and organising the event. Farmers said that they had anticipated that they would be given money instead of trophies. Farmers’ representative, Hennel Kaisara accused the organising committee for poor communication.
“Farmers must be respected. We have not received last year’s prize money, but we still came to this year’s event. We are still not going to be financially rewarded this year. We were only informed at the last minute that there won’t be prize money but trophies, which is a greater source of worry to us,” he said.
He said that it is more worrying that the organising committee did not communicate well despite the fact that farmers spent a lot of money to honour the show.
He bemoaned that the show is growing at a low rate because of poor organisation, amongst others.
Kaisara also said that there is lack of financial accountability by the organisers of the show. He said: “The issue of financials is the heartbeat of any organisation. Tell us how you used the money so that we can assist. We are not accusing anyone of stealing the money, but we insist on being shown the financial statements to appreciate what is happening and so that we can help where possible”.
Kaisara also called on the ministry to intervene in order for the show to regain its integrity. Autlwetse, who was not given a slot in the programme, urged the farmers not to focus on the prize money, but rather take advantage of the show to market their ventures.
He however urged the organising committee to heed the farmers’ calls for an improvement of the event.
Earlier on, during the official opening, the organising committee chairperson, Keletso Rakhudu said they have not yet paid last year’s show winner due to shortage of funds.