Police volunteers can go if they wish - Khama

NNASARETHA KGAMANYANE
Correspondent | Friday March 16, 2012 00:00

 

President Khama said this during his address to Mogoditshane residents at their main Kgotla yesterday. He was responding to Mmamenwana Magakwa, a Mogoditshane resident who asked the president to feel pity and increase the stipend given to police volunteers given that their work is risky yet they are not covered by any insurance.

She told the President that she had to quit due to the risky nature of police volunteering. Magakwa therefore, pleaded with the President to increase the volunteer's stipend from P400 per month.President Khama told Magakwa that it is up to an individual to stop volunteering, as there are many people who need that P400 and will gladly fill the space. He said the reason that it is called 'volunteering' is because people offer to work at their own free will. He said that volunteering is part of contributing towards fighting crime.

The President also told the gathering that the country is facing a serious economic crisis and that even the police are not earning much so policing clusters have to accept the little the government has decided to offer them. He told his audience that his government would soon provide Ipelegeng workers with lunch. He said that this would help them save their money for other things, as they will be provided with lunch.

This did not please Ipelegeng participants in attendance who immediately stated that the money used to buy them lunch must be added to their pay packets, as they do not need the snacks that the government is offering them. They said that if the money were added to their monthly pay, this would help improve their lifestyles. One youthful Ipelegeng participant said that there was no use in being provided with lunch money when their children will be left hungry at home. She said that if the money could be used to increase their pay, their children would also benefit.

Minister of Education Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi told the residents that there is no way lunch money can be used to increase pay as other people also have to benefit from this programme in order to provide for their families.'Women who cook (the snacks) also have to benefit from this programme. We want them to support their children with the profits they get from selling you the food', she said. The residents who gathered at the Kgotla started murmuring with disapproval as soon as she said this. The residents complained that Mogoditshane Primary School is a danger to their children as it is in an unpleasant state. They said that there are no facilities, offices and that there is only one usable toilet. They said the poor state of the school is contributing to the poor academic performance of their children. They pleaded with the president to see the state of the school himself.Venson-Moitoi told the residents that 80 percent of schools in Botswana are in a bad condition. She said that she has asked all the school heads to draw up a list of all the things that they would like to be fixed in their schools. She said that the ministry has been given money for repairing all the schools.

President Khama asked Peter Siele, the Minister of Local Government and Venson-Moitoi to visit the school and inspect it either today or tomorrow and give him feedback on the school's state.The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mogoditshane, Patrick Masimolole thanked the government for establishing the Ipelegeng programme as it has helped eradicate poverty in most parts of the country, including Mogoditshane.