CEDA’S BOARDINGSCHOOL GUEST HOUSES

On the Consumer Watchdog Botswana Facebook page, a subscriber complains that when she and a female friend tried to book into the same room at a Mahalapye guest house, the owner refused to accommodate them. The reason given was that it is the guesthouse’s policy to not accommodate guests of the same sex in the same room. The subtext of this policy is that LGBTQIXYZ couples spending the night in Mahalapye would do well to look for accommodation elsewhere. Many more guest houses, a good number of them funded by the Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency, have some quite unusual rules that mirror those of boarding schools – or SHHA areas. One controversial SHHA rule has actually been used for an edition of the Miss Botswana beauty contest.

One too many SHHA landladies, especially those in Phase 1 Gaborone West, have a strict rule that prohibits visitors of the opposite sex, especially ( wink, wink) those who spend the night. The Miss Botswana edition in question had a no- boyfriend rule – which resulted in 87.4 percent of the contestants, all of them Christian, breaking the thou shalt not lie commandment. But that is in the past and we are more concerned about the present. Should CEDA fund the establishment of hospitality establishments that operate like boarding- school hostels? If yes, shouldn’t the Agency officially create such category using precise language – “boarding- school guest house”? Such designation would save people time and fuel because they would avoid them and go to those that treat guests like adults. If the answer is no, then CEDA, itself an investor in these guest houses until the owner repays the loan fully, should not give guest- house loans to applicants who rent or have rented out SHHA houses - especially women.