Illiteracy among serious cause

KEABETSWE NEWEL
Correspondent | Friday November 5, 2010 00:00

It is also said that another councillor wanted to comment on the use of the Internet in local government administration. He caused much laughter in the chamber when he referred to the Internet as 'di M-net' - which is a television channel. To him since the two words seem to rhyme he thought he was on the right track.

The same thing applies to reading and writing. A number of councillors in Botswana struggle to even read written speeches. They would struggle and tremble such that by the time they are done, no one would have gotten the gist of the message. These examples are but a tip of the iceberg, of course.

Although it is clear that some councillors need to improve their academic status, some party leaders feel that education is totally unnecessary for one to be a community representative. Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) secretary general Thato Kwerepe says that only reading and writing are required for one to be a political representative.

'Although academic qualifications are necessary, our laws have not yet been amended to cater for qualifications at council level,' said Kwerepe who argued that developments and creativity are released, not by qualifications but individual capabilities.

Botswana Congress Party (BCP) spokesperson Taolo Lucas does not entirely agree, arguing that there is need for literacy that would enable councillors to efficiently do their work. 'Documents are written in English. Councillors need to comprehend them and be able to interprete them to the voter in Setswana,' Lucas said.

According to Lucas, council duties entail debating and presenting to the council documents that require reading and writing in both languages. However, Lucas argued that at council level, what matters most is delivery by the individual, adding that illiteracy is not a big issue.

'Being literate does not guarantee that someone would perform well, what matters is the connection with the community,' Lucas said.

He said that councillors are the link between the community and the council, highlighting that they are thus facilitators who just lead the people to where they can get assistance.

Themba Joina, the president of MELS, said that as a party that lives in an illiterate society, they do not have a problem with the uneducated being councillors.

'If we could only select the educated, we would be discriminating against the uneducated who are already being discriminated by the system,' he said.

He, however, said that the ruling party has long failed to neutralise the issue of councillor illiteracy. According to him, every councillor should have a government-office with a secretary that would help in interpretation of technical and complex documents that illiterate councillors cannot comprehend.

Akanyang Magama, Secretary General of Botswana National Front (BNF), said that latest development issues are complex and demand literacy on the part of community leaders.

'Most councillors are not competent enough to handle such issues. We see some councillors who do not even possess elementary education,' Magama said. Magama stressed that the issue of illiteracy at council level must be addressed urgently.

'Council, as the Local Government, deals with issues like urban development plans that are approved by councillors. If then councillors do not understand the documents, how do they address them?' said Magama. He said that this breeds corruption as public officers would take advantage of the illiterate councillors and lead the council. He also said that although it has never been an issue that won broad discussion, it is a serious issue that needs deeper analysis to reach a suitable solution. Log Raditlhokwa, a lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB) and social commentator, argued that it is necessary for councillors to be educated. 'They need to be up to date with the modern ways of research, such as the use of computers,' he said.

According to him, some councillors do not even raise intelligent motions at council meetings since they do not understand the urban plans. He said for them to cope with such matters, they must have a certain level of education. 'There should be a minimum requirement for councillors, although qualifications do not guarantee performance, I am aware of many councillors who struggle to read speeches,' he said.

Raditlhokwa said most voters believe that literate people do not interact well with the electorate. He said that it however depends on the character of individuals. According to him, an illiterate person can also have a negative attitude depending on his character.

'There are many educated people who interact with people in a satisfactory manner.

Today's needs are complex, unlike back in the day where duties of councillors were just to attend funerals and collect firewood for the people,' Raditlhokwa said.He said that it is high time councillors participated in council meetings fully rather that being just quiet during meetings and labelling themselves councillors only by attending funerals and collecting firewood.