Khama spent night away from Chanoga?

BONIFACE KEAKABETSE
Correspondent | Friday March 29, 2013 00:00

 

A temporary fully serviced tented township was set up in the dusty Chanoga village, 40 kilometres East of Maun, for the Poverty Eradication Pitso.

Among the tents were the more lavish ones erected for cabinet ministers but only a few slept in them. Presidential Minister Mokgweetsi Masisi, one of the few who slept at the camp, said some of his colleagues did not sleep in Chanoga as a matter of choice and convenience as they had to quickly return to Parliament, which was in session.

Khama reportedly spent the night in the Okavango Delta in Khwai while some ministers and high ranking government officials lodged in the numerous hotels in Maun and attended the official opening event in the morning.

The President did not even use his luxurious camping caravan, which was bought at around P2 million a few years ago under a cloud of controversy.

In the run up to the three-day Poverty Eradication Pitso, which ended yesterday, Ngamiland District Commissioner Bernadette Malala explained to North West councillors that President Khama and members of his cabinet coming for the event were to spend the night in the tents in Chanoga.

A piece of land measuring 12 hectares where the event was held was converted into a tented village fully serviced with electricity, water and gravelled access roads.

According to sources involved in the organisation of the event, government used a total of P5 million for the event. When briefing NWDC councillors, Malala said P2 million was to be used for food for those coming to the event. Ten catering companies were engaged and 1,000 beneficiaries of the government poverty eradication programme camped here.

Almost all the government departments were represented. There was a makeshift police station, a Botswana Defence Force (BDF) bomb disposal squad and other army units, fire fighters and a makeshift hospital.

Efforts to get a comment from the organisers were futile at press time. Government spokesperson Jeff Ramsay said there was a lot of misinformation surrounding the Chanoga event. He said it was not true that Khama and ministers were scheduled to sleep at the camp. He added that they even issued a press statement in response to the misinformation. He explained that the Ngamiland council was just a bunch of people who were excited, and in the process misinformed others. He argued that it was cheaper for Khama and Cabinet members to sleep in Maun.

About the caravan, Ramsay said the assignment did not warrant use of the property because of his tight schedule. Masisi declined to comment on the seeming contradictions between his confirmation that some ministers slept at the camp and Ramsay's that neither Khama nor cabinet ministers were scheduled to sleep in Chanoga.

Meanwhile, residents of Chanoga expressed mixed reactions about the significance of the Pitso to their village. Chanoga Village Development Committee (VDC) chairperson Philemon Dicheleketo praised the government for choosing Chanoga to host the event saying the village will be changed for the better post event.

He said four residents in the village benefited through a bakery, three through fishing while 15 received 15 goats each. Dicheleketo however expressed concern that one of the beneficiaries sold one of the goats he was given on Sunday. He also praised the government for allocating the residents the 12 hectares where the event was held.

Dicheleketo revealed that the land would be turned into a campsite and a cultural centre to benefit all the residents through tourism.

Speaking in an interview, 67 year old Chanoga resident, Phenyo Rammokolodi lambasted the Pitso organizers saying the community was not fully consulted and were sidelined during the proceedings.

Rammokolodi said considering the visible expenses of the event, the money could have been used well in improving the lives of Chanoga residents.

He said that the village faces critical poverty due to Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) ravaging cattle. 'They should use the money on FMD eradication because everyone here including some of these beneficiaries are in this situation because of FMD,' he said.

Another resident, Obusitswe Gaorekwe was equally excited by the Pitso but said the shortage of water may be a big disadvantage for the success of the programmes in the village.

Gaorekwe said currently the village relies on water bowsers and sometimes goes for weeks without water supplies.Some of the beneficiaries interviewed were also equally appreciative of the pitso. Moagedi Mponda, 25 from Gudigwa said she applied for a catering company, which she said, would be the first one to open in Gudigwa.

Maditsheko Rabaki, 58 from Bothatogo told Mmegi that although she benefited goats, she hoped to start a farming business to benefit her poverty-stricken 10 siblings.

Similar appreciation was also shown by a youthful Jonathan Gaolathe who said he was going to start a saloon in his home village of Sankoyo in the Okavango Delta.

However, not all were appreciative of the Pitso.  A large crowd of the informal sector mostly food, farm produce and airtime vendors who convened near the road at the event said business was bad.

One of the vendors, Gaanowe Tshimololo said due to the hype created for the event she had hoped to make a kill but said that she made only P200 from sales of water melons in two days.

She attributed the bad business to the fact that the event organisers did not allow them to sell inside the area where the event was held.