08 Apr 2014

While many village development committees around Botswana struggle to establish financially viable projects that can keep them afloat, the Khuis Village Development Committee (VDC) has a different story to tell.

The story is that of financial success as it established unique business ventures that have proved sustainable and aided many developments in the village.

Despite the fact that voluntary work was a leading cause of the collapse of many committees, the Khuis VDC prides itself with guest houses, a cooperative society, day care centre, kraals where the residents sell their livestock, renovation of the kgotla shelter, houses for rent and refurbishment of the community hall.

Khuis, a Kgalagadi District village with a population of 897, sits near the border with South Africa, approximately five kilometres from Middlepits. The village has a primary school. Dotted throughout the village are tuck shops that sell soft drinks and other basic supplies.

The one place that is worth seeking out here is the community cooperative store, which was set up as an income-generating project for the residents but has since been rented to an individual.

Mr Hansel Itaoleng, the youthful chairperson of the VDC, who demonstrated devotion towards bringing development to Khuis said that he believed that village committees played an advisory role to government and as such were part of the decision-making process, meaning that the committees formulate ideas for projects that would benefit the communities.

Mr Itaoleng said his committee undertook projects through consultation and cooperation with communities and with support from Village Extension Team and other stakeholders who at times make some recommendation where to improve. He was elected the chairperson of the VDC last year after he his early retirement from Debswana.

“After my retirement I joined the community with an aim to bring up new ideas to develop our villages which is lacking behind in developments,” he said in an interview.

Raised in a traditional way of rearing livestock and cultivating crops not knowing that one day, he will grow into a reputable figure with the ability to lead a village, Mr Itaoleng said appreciated the fact that the government had financial constraints because of the economic recession which resulted in the halting of some development projects.

He said the aim is to ensure that communities are able to access services closer to them, hence the VDC was planning to improve accommodation facilities to attract public servants who had been refusing to work in Khuis.

He said since the government had come up with an initiative to introduce reception classes for children aged 4 ½ to five years, the VDC decided to partition the day care centre and turned it into guest houses.

“We generate more income through rentals hence we want to construct more houses if funds permit,” he added.

While other VDCs continue grappling with the challenge posed by rent defaulters most of who were civil servants, at Khuis the issue is the thing of the past as the committee has designed a contract that must be signed before the tenant could occupy the house.

Mr Itaoleng dreams big and he sees the village in future being a choice destination, especially that it has natural resources which could be turned into opportunities. The village has rich and beautiful natural resources which his committee could tap into to change its image and turn Khuis into a tourism destination.

According to him, the small village has a beautiful land scape, a river which is a home of crocodiles, flat rocks and wildlife that could attract tourists.

Currently, the youthful leader has written letters to companies requesting financial assistance to carry out some projects in the pipeline such as constructing a centre for elders, a place where they could meet and be fed.

Other projects include construction of ablution blocks at bus stops, five more guest houses, a school kitchen, buy two Jojos, establish a playground for children and also secure a borehole and connect it as the village is faced with a challenge of water.

Mr Itaoleng also said his committee intended to revive the village trust which was formed long time ago but not functioning as expected because it could not afford to develop a constitution.

The VDC was also engaging in community projects to help needy people. The chairperson said his committee wanted to work hard to attain a measure of self-reliance.

He said the residents should refrain from labeling themselves as destitute because they were able bodied who could look for ways and means to be economically independent to sustain their future. Besides, the poverty eradication programme was there to change people’s lives.

Kgosi Gilbert Botsheleng of Khuis is happy that the VDC is doing all in its power to push forward the developments of the community. He said the committee was coming up with quality projects that generate income.

“We had elected young, vibrant youths whom we believe they could change the image of the village,” he said. Kgosi Botsheleng said the youthful committee had displayed leadership capabilities well when the community was in need and “we are hopeful that they would do more during their term”. Ends