Boko Promises 100,000 Jobs
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday October 23, 2017 14:59
Boko, also the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, was addressing the youth inside a packed Botho University lecture theatre on Saturday under the theme ‘Self-leadership, unemployment and entrepreneurship’. “When government changes in 2019 within the first 12 months, we would have generated no less than a 100,000 jobs. Like I told my constituents in Block 5, to do that I will call a Kgotla meeting and put those who are unemployed on one side and I will tell them right there that now you are employed from this moment on and paid by government. We would have agreed as government how much the living wage would be and we will pay all of them the money. I will then give you a job description, which would be that they stop crime and will all be policing Block 5. Kids will walk to school unmolested and nobody would be stealing from them. It will be your job. You will ensure that your neighbourhood is clean. And the government will pay,” he said.
On where the money would come from, Boko said it was important to understand that crime is expensive with loads of money spent in the whole process of arresting thieves and taking them to court. He said if crime is stopped or decreased, then the government would save and the people ensuring that crime is under control will be paid. “Because of reduced crime, you will not have your house broken into and having to buy household goods again when you could be buying something else or using the money to help save others from poverty,” he said.
Boko said Brazil introduced a system similar to what he described, which International Monetary Fund criticised and was later seen as revolutionary with a lot of countries now going to Brazil to benchmark. “It can be done. You just need a president who can think and young people who can push him,” he said.
Quizzed on why unemployment is high in Botswana and what could be done, Boko said the government neglected education hence high employment. He said while Patrick van Rensburg preached education with production, he was ignored. “He said teach them how to lay bricks, farming and also piloted an education system that blended education with production. We rejected it and now do not have artisans and depend on Zimbabweans. In Germany kids do not want universities but rather they want to acquire a trade because it pays,” he said.
The Botswana National Front (BNF) president urged the young people to be free and restless in pursuing their agenda. “When I was in Sweden in 1996, it was a requirement that there has to be a youthful minister. I want to see that happen here. You guys can do it and be the best of the best. When you compete know you are not competing against your peers, but against the world, you should be able to speak truth to the government and tell them what you want and tell them off when they veer off,” he said,
Boko also urged the young people to get into business. “Your time is now. You need to take responsibility of your lives. Appreciate the situation. Don’t struggle to get a job, struggle to be entrepreneurial and be entrepreneurial in something you love and enjoy like I enjoy going to court even when I do no get paid for it. I just go because I want to have fun. You also need to find something you love and do it better than anyone else and inspire others. Appreciate those around you who push you to be the very best you can be,” he said.