30 Jan 2025

Community leaders in Okavango have been asked to work in harmony to serve their communities efficiently. 

The call was made by Okavango West Member of Parliament, Mr Kenny Kapinga in a meeting with dikgosi in his constituency in Shakawe on Wednesday.

Mr Kapinga observed that as community leaders they all had a common goal of serving interests of the public and further urged them to put their differences and political affiliations aside. 

He said that the current government prioritised protection of human rights therefore it was imperative for community leadership to align their activities to aspirations of the new government. 

MP Kapinga said the Okavango District which was lagging behind in developments could only be developed if the leadership and public service were united and depoliticised.

“You can only manage by working together and putting Okavango and Botswana first,” he said.

Mr Kapinga said it was important that people in leadership, public service and parastatals were appointed to positions based on merit and not political affiliation.

He said that leaders should level the playing field by allowing members of the public to benefit from programmes equally which would curb corruption.

Mr Kapinga urged the dikgosi in attendance to solve issues brought before them fairly and promptly and handle issues affecting the marginalised in the society with care.

He said the dikgosi should be concerned about the level of development in their villages, the kind of services provided to their members of communities and the poor academic results of children in their communities and advocate for improvement.

In his welcome remarks, Kgosi Mutemo Mbambo of Shakawe said they had a challenge of office space and shortage of staff at the kgotla even though the village was a service centre for Okavango. 

Kgosi Mbambo therefore said there was a need to promote some dikgosi in Shakawe and to construct a better office for Shakawe Kgotla to service the community better. ENDS