The Minister of Local Government, Peter Siele, has confirmed that the government is considering buying elderly citizens of Botswana wireless radios.
“It is something we are considering whether we can find money and try to assist the elders who stay alone,” said Siele.
He said the Ministry will engage social workers to go countrywide, sampling and identifying those who should receive them.
Pointing out that this is an identified need not for everybody, Siele said this will help the elderly to fight boredom and to also pass information.
He added that they had not yet identified the type of radio to get for them but believes it will just be regular radio receivers.
“We first need to visit around the country, probably for 3 months,” said Siele.
University of Botswana Lecturer in the Department of Social Work, Log Raditlhokwa, said his perception is that Batswana need to be fair about the issue.
“It is the same thing the government has promised, to buy the Ipelegeng people food but it will not work after the country’s elections,” said Raditlhokwa.
He added that his opinion is that if the issue is politicized, it will appear as if the Government is trying to buy off the elders to vote for him. He further said that, from a developmental point, it can be viewed as a good move because the elders cannot afford the radios.
“That would be a good gift from the Government because they need to hear what is happening around them,” said Raditlhokwa. He said it is the same idea as giving them the Daily News paper because “criticizing the idea is criticizing the Daily News paper”.
Attorney Tebogo Sebego said he believes in projects that are sustainable. “That is to say if they are given the radios, they must always have them,” said Sebego, adding that it does not, however, address the problem of lack of recreation and information.
Sebego said the radios will bring problems to the elders because they will need to be repaired, recharged and maintained.
“We are introducing a problem thinking that we are helping,” Sebego said, adding that he believes in empowering people to fend for themselves. “It is about time we review pensioner’s money so that we make them afford radios themselves or introduce certain subsidies for them to ensure sustainability.”
Sebego said that while we need to be an informed nation, we must intensify outreach programs and spread them.
“It is alright,” he said. “The Government has to meet its obligations towards its people.”
