'100 Villages Project' lights up Matsitama

RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer | Wednesday October 27, 2010 00:00

Apparently, from the villagers turnout, it was clear this was an event they valued very much. The event attracted the young and old. The traditional dance performances by the village Hosanna group comprising of elderly people and the primary school traditional dance troupe rendered the event even more colourful.

Their renditions of traditional Sesarwa music in particular, mesmerised the Swedish team from both the main contractor, Eltel Networks, and the main consultant, SWECO International.

Sweden's Ambassador to Botswana, Peter Tejler, and his team were definitely left eating out of their palms. Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, could not hide his excitement. At some stage he sprung to the podium and demonstrated that on a good day he could dance to the tunes of traditional music. He literally set the event alight. 'PHK' as Kedikilwe is affectionately known, is fond of singing and dancing, especially on bigger stages like last week's event.

The scorching heat and the dusty winds which nearly spoiled the occasion in large marquee tents hired from Francistown was not even a discouraging factor.

But for a sleepy village like Matsitama, which lies 100kms west of Francistown, with a relatively small population, last Friday shall remain the talk of the village for years to come.

The news of the village's electrification was positively received and well celebrated.

The Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources headed by Kedikilwe, almost operated its business from the village last Friday with its top officials forming the main part of the ministry's delegation there. Permanent secretary, Boikobo Paya, and other senior officials were there to witness the completion of the multi-million Pula project that is envisaged to transform life in the rural villages.

Perhaps, this was a reflection of how they valued the occasion whose journey started off in 2008 with the commissioning of the first electrification project at Gakutlo in Kweneng.

As if they did not want to be outdone, the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) dispatched one of the largest delegations led by its CEO, Jacob Raleru, with many senior officials from the corporation at the event.Various government departments and captains of the industry graced the August event.

Even the visually impaired were aided to the marquee tents to listen to the message of the day. In particular, there was one blind man who was clad in a golden shirt and khaki trousers who listened attentively to almost every speaker and kept on echoing the words of the speakers.

His demeanour made him the cynosure of the occasion, as he would periodically break the silence by echoing the words of the speakers. The man became even more audible when Kedikilwe was on the podium speaking Setswana punctuated with idioms, similes and euphemisms.

But his excitement became even more visible when the village chief, Keitlhobogile took to the podium to say a few words on the project.

Keitlhobogile's first observation was that the event was set to take the village to greater heights. He said people from other parts of the country have always wondered where on the country's map lies Matsitama. He was hoping that once connections are done and the streets and houses are lit. That will definitely change the complexion of the little known Matsitama. And this left our unidentified visually impaired man incessantly saying, 'Yes' perhaps showing that he approved of what his chief was saying.

'We will not be surprised if the chain store, Shoprite, could open shop here because now we have electricity,' he said to ululations from the villagers.

As far as he remembers, Matsitama was inhabited in 1966 following the setting up of a mining prospecting company he remembered by the name of RSTE.

Matsitama, he said, was almost a cattle post then, and due to the small population, the community school constructed by the prospecting company assisted him to read for his Sub A and B before he relocated to a more developed school in Sebina where he furthered his primary education.

But his struggle with education saw him approaching the authorities to construct a school.

The village chief said Matsitama was the first to graduate to the level of a village in an area chiefly surrounded by cattle posts.

Kgosi Keitlhobogile was hopeful that the electrification of his village would help in the creation of the much-needed jobs. In particular, he credited the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) for its high level of consultation with the local stakeholders during the project.

Ndapiwa Mabika, an unemployed mother of seven, views the electrification of her village as an opportunity to create jobs locally. She views the electrification project in her village as the first step to good things to come to the village.

Breastfeeding her youngest child in the large marquee tent that housed the event, Mabika said: 'Now that electricity will be connected to our village, those who have the means will be able to buy electrical appliances in their houses as it was not a priority before.'

Although the 51-year-old is currently unemployed, with none of her children gainfully engaged, she has hope that one day she will be able to connect electricity to her dwelling place. She was also hopeful that the connection fee would be affordable to accommodate 'struggling people like ourselves'.

Born and brought up in Matsitama, Mabika has never had the opportunity to live in a house with electricity. The only opportunity that brought her closer to an electrified house was when she was doing menial jobs at the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) camp in Francistown where she washed clothes over the weekends for about seven different officers in the camp. And that was about 27 years ago, before she retreated to her rural life again.

She is hopeful that the electrification of Matsitama village will come with good tidings. She pointed out to the fact that some farmers have been struggling to store some of the livestock medicines requiring low temperatures, adding that this will be one of the direct benefits to the livestock industry.

A stone's throw from Mabika sat 25-year-old Odiitse Buti who completed her Form Five at the Shashe River Secondary School in 2007 and is currently home doing absolutely nothing.

Although she does not possess any of the electrical appliances, she is positive that electricity will transform her home village once it is connected to the national electricity grid.

'Opportunities are likely to emerge which could create jobs for us as agro-based industries could set base here now,' she declared with optimism and pointed out that the cattle posts around Matsitama could spring to life.Buti partly attributes her bad performance in Cambridge to the fact that she struggled to read using a lantern.'Every time I was on school vacation it was never easy to revise at night after completing the day's chores hence my poor performance,' she claimed and equally beaming with hope that electricity will simplify life generally.She says bars and bottle stores could not employ many people because the industry has been struggling using small generators which do not produce sufficient electricity.

The late afternoon heat was ignored as almost the whole village feasted, courtesy of the power utility corporation, BPC. Besides food that was served galore, the day was completed with takeaways of Chibuku that were served to willing people.

To many, last Friday shall remain indelible in the minds of many villagers not just because of the commissioning of rural electrification but also because of the early 'Christmas' that they were offered.