22 Apr 2025

The ground breaking ceremony of the Bonno Target 3 000 Housing Development project is the commencement of government’s journey towards the delivery of 100 000 housing units to Batswana, says President Advocate Duma Boko.

Speaking during the event in Kgale View yesterday, he said it was with a deep sense of pride to launch the project which was a segment of a large and unfolding narrative of the 100 000 units promised.

“Botswana is going to look spectacularly different within the next three years. I have a team of people I work with and we dare not fail. 

We should have a culture of selflessness, humility and appreciating that the people expect us to give our all for them,” he said.

President Boko said a low wage economy in the past did not attract acceptable foreign direct investment (FDI) and that left many citizens impoverished including those with formal employment. 

He said the government had made an indication of the construction of 100 000 housing units by developing comprehensive schemes for affordable housing.

“The workers are complaining, there is generalised discontent about these past systematic injustices and we need to wrestle with this on the trot. 

We are as government charged with the responsibility of resolving these injustices and we are going to do that in the shortest possible time,” he said.

President Boko said government was not only offering Batswana shelter, but opportunity to own real property in terms of housing units.

“We begin with this 3 000, It is the beginning of an ambitious project of wealth transfer and at the end of this, 100 000 shall have titles to real property, a house which is vital in life, democratisation of wealth because we want people to have decent livelihood,” added President Boko.

He said government had set an ambitious target of delivering the project within two years and called on all stakeholders to come on board and realise this vision. 

He said the indirect jobs to be created by the project must at least reward labour at the lowest P4 000.

“There is no legislation compelling this, but moral and economic argument does compel us to do so. Confidence and renewed faith must be given to our people,” said President Boko. Giving an overview of the project, Minister of Water and Human Settlement, Mr Onneetse Ramogapi said Bonno Target 3 000 was the first step towards delivering the promised 100 000 housing units. 

He made an assurance that all people working on the project would be given the envisaged minimum wage of P4 000.

He said the project would be unfolded in two phases which would turn out to be a marathon race expected to be delivered within 24 months.

He said government resolved to use the direct appointment for the project as the tender process was lengthy. He appealed to all Batswana to show interest and be part of the journey.

ONGOS Group chair, Mr Reagon Graig said his company, established 10 years ago was not only building houses, but also providing solutions that elevated human dignity and decency. He said the Kgale Housing development project was large and intergenerational. 

He said ONGOS had formed a formidable partnership with government and Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) to deliver decent housing. 

Mr Graig said ONGO was a multi-disciplinary infrastructure development company with passion for creating sustainable housing solutions across the African continent building affordable homes and bulk infrastructure projects like roads and wastewater projects. ENDS