In a spirited address delivered yesterday afternoon at a kgotla meeting in Tatitown, President Duma Boko commended the residents of Francistown for launching a Student Consultative Forum aimed at promoting civic engagement among youth. He hailed the initiative as a model for community-driven participation and encouraged other regions across Botswana to follow suit.
Addressing citizens’ concerns about poor service delivery, President Boko acknowledged the systemic issues plaguing government institutions, including overburdened civil servants working under the legacy of low-wage policies. As part of a solution, he reaffirmed his administration’s push for a minimum wage of P4,000 to improve working conditions, uplift morale, and ultimately enhance the quality of public services.
Despite current economic challenges, the President assured Batswana of his government’s unwavering commitment to social upliftment. He highlighted the recent increase of the old age pension to P1,400, describing it as a step toward fulfilling the pledge of P1,800, and reaffirmed that economic justice remains central to his leadership.
Calling for integrity among public officials, President Boko urged Cabinet Ministers and Members of Parliament to act with honour and accountability, reminding them that leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege. “We cannot be bigger than the people who entrusted us with the mandate,” he declared.
The President reiterated the government’s duty to protect human rights, describing them as God-given, not conferred by the state. He emphasized the importance of truly listening to the people’s struggles before responding with policy, noting that Francistown’s backlog in land allocation and poorly maintained infrastructure are the results of years of neglect and mismanagement.
He warned against complacency in governance, arguing that leadership must be challenged to remain effective. He criticized those who celebrate the poverty of their citizens, insisting that such attitudes strip people of their dignity. Citing a faltering diamond market and a lack of economic diversification, President Boko acknowledged the difficult economic terrain but called for bold reevaluation of national priorities.
Once a pillar of the economy, agriculture now contributes less than 10% to GDP, down from 40%. The President expressed deep concern over the national cattle herd’s decline from 3 million to 1.7 million, linking it to worsening poverty levels. To reverse the trend, he proposed a modernized approach to farming that includes zoning reforms to control foot-and-mouth disease, a shift to irrigation-based agriculture, and partnerships with Belarus to enhance local capacity and self-sufficiency.
He also advocated for the revival of traditional cooperative farming, while admitting that past investments in agriculture had yielded poor returns. To turn things around, he pledged that state institutions like the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) and Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) will return to profitability by the end of 2025. With BAMB currently owing farmers over P400 million, President Boko vowed to clear the debt within the same period.
In a bid to stimulate employment and housing, he announced that the Ministry of Lands and Housing, under Minister Ramogapi, will construct 1,000 Bonno units per constituency. These homes will be leased to government with local citizens as landlords, creating jobs with a standard wage of P4,000 per worker.
The President also outlined infrastructure improvements, including plans to refurbish public buildings to be climate-resilient and upgrades to the A1 highway, with possible tolling in future phases.
Turning to healthcare, President Boko acknowledged critical shortages of medicines and long lab result wait times, blaming the issues on inefficient procurement and exploitative middlemen. In response, government will now procure medicines directly from manufacturers, cutting costs by up to 70%, while healthcare facilities will be modernized and telemedicine introduced.
As part of broader social support, he introduced a monthly P300 grant for newborns to support young families and announced that the Ipelegeng programme would be revamped, with salaries raised to P2,500. Members of Village Development Committees (VDCs) are also set to earn the same amount. He reminded citizens that these reforms are not handouts, but rightful entitlements.
The President closed by assigning Minister David Tshire the task of eliminating long queues for services such as Omang, passports, and driver’s licences by the end of the year. Emphasizing the need for digital transformation, he concluded, “We cannot continue doing things the same old way.”
With a bold three-year timeline to significantly improve the quality of life for Batswana, President Boko’s message in Francistown was clear: change is coming—driven by justice, accountability, and the voice of the people.
