Villages still waiting for police stations

PATRICIA MAGANU-EDWIN
Staff Writer | Monday April 4, 2011 00:00

 

The promises were made when Festus Mogae was still president. Marapong headman of record, Bakani Mampori said criminals strike because they are aware that the police station is in Francistown.'We need a police station here. Not a month passes by without reports of stolen livestock.'

He added that Marapong is a rapidly growing village with no streetlights and people are frequently beaten and robbed. 'Even police cannot patrol in the dark because they will be attacked especially women because they have no means of defending themselves,' he added.

He further said they have never been briefed of reasons for the delays.'We were never told anything except that the police station would be in the plan so we are in the dark,' he said.

Marobela headman of record Rapelang Khuwe shares the same sentiments about growing livestock thefts in their village. He said that police take the whole day to get to a scene when they are called. 'Sometimes they will not have transport to get here on time,' he said. He went on to say that Tatitown Police is now overstretched because it covers a large area, as far as Mokubilo. Mmeya and all those villages are dependant on Tatitown and it is a big area,' he said.

He also cited the problem of cable theft. 'People see the thieves but they always manage to get away because we have no means to chase them and by the time the police get here they will be gone,' he added.He said that they have power and telecoms cables that have been abandoned but no suspects.'The villagers live in fear of the rains because we do not know what will happen to those power lines,' he said.

Khuwe further said that the representatives of the villages are very disappointed because they were told that the police stations would be built at Sebina Junction and at Marapong but have not heard anything ever since.

'There was a conflict and it was resolved and we expected the police station to be operating by now, Now we are disappointed because not only were the police stations not in NDP9 they are still not in this plan. So when?' he asked.

He added that the police operating at the customary courts can only do so much as they do not have resources and means of defending themselves.

MP for Tonota North Fidelis Molao said that the two police stations are currently at design stage.'As we speak they are at design stage but because of the recession the project will not implemented until things improve,' he said.

He said that during a parliamentary session last year he got the assurance that the projects would resume.As this has not yet happened the villages are still dependant on Tatitown Police station for services.