It's time DCEC move against Target 20, 000 rot

Target 20, 000 introduced a few years ago by the then Ministry of Education and Skills was meant to stop Botswana from exporting jobs. Currently, if one needs a welder or carpenter, the person you are likely to get is a foreigner, especially a Zimbabwean.

Over the years, our education system has always been just academic-oriented and has disfranchised multitudes of Batswana who failed Junior Certificate Education. Majority of these unfortunate people trudge the streets with a bleak future. They end up forced into menial jobs in which they are paid as low as P800 a month.  If these people were equipped with artisan skills, they could earn between P7,000 and P20,000 a month. Hence Target 20,000 was introduced to address this shortage of skills in the country. However, the programme was consumed by greed that is a norm and rife in the public service. Some people in that ministry together with some corrupt institutions set out to plunder government coffers. The Directorate on Commercial and Economic Crimes (DCEC) should move against such people who have lined their pockets with ill-gotten funds.

We learn that there was this particular woman who made it a sleaze operation. She and her relative in that ministry would call some corrupt owners of institutions  and negotiate how many students they will be given and how much cut she would get in return. This is how the students were allocated, and in fact, the relative would make side deals with institutions in exchange for his influence over his boss. 

Editor's Comment
Gov’t must rectify recognition of Khama as Kgosi

While it is widely acknowledged that Khama holds the title of Kgosi, the government’s failure to properly gazette his recognition has raised serious concerns about adherence to legal procedures and the credibility of traditional leadership. (See a story elsewhere in this newspaper.) Recent court documents by the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse, shed light on the intricacies of Khama’s recognition process....

Have a Story? Send Us a tip
arrow up