Divide Mogoditshane into two – Rakgare
With Mogoditshane this week announced as the largest village in Botswana with an estimated population of 88,098, legislator Tumiso Rakgare says it is now time for the area to be divided into two constituencies since the population has doubled in a 11-year period between 2011 and 2022.
When it released the 2022 Population and Housing Census preliminary results, Statistics Botswana revealed that Mogoditshane, which is among other villages connected to the capital city Gaborone, revealed that generally cities and towns have the highest population densities compared to predominantly rural districts.
Rakgare won the Mogoditshane constituency in 2019 under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) ticket. That was after he initially lost it in 2014 then under the Botswana Congress Party (BCP). He told Mmegi in an interview yesterday that he feels the constituency should be divided into two because in the 2011 statistics, there was a report that a Member for Parliament (MP) can only service a population of 35,000 people but that is determined by delimitation. He admitted that currently it is difficult to service such huge number of people and also address their complaints.
This comes after Parliament approved a motion by the BDP secretary-general and MP for Gaborone North, Mpho Balopi to increase the number of elected MPs from 57-61.
While it is expected that the BDP could to benefit more from the increase, it remains to be seen whether government could consider dividing the densely populated Mogoditshane.
Rakgare said they have been anticipating the population under the Mogoditshane constituency to grow because in the 2011 housing census, the area was second after Molepolole village.
With most people moving to the city to find jobs, this has forced Mogoditshane as an urban settlement to meet accelerated demand for affordable housing, well connected transport systems, and other amenities. Mogoditshane, which borders Gaborone, faces challenges in meeting the needs of the growing urban populations, something that Rakgare agrees with. Rakgare admitted that economic pressures affect Mogoditshane a lot.
“We have been having difficulties to service the number that we had and now it has grown double. That means more problems to us. That means high unemployment rate will increase crime and also squatters. Mind you, some people are moving to Mogoditshane for reasonable rental and also to look for employment,” he said.
He added that it is an opportunity for Mogoditshane residents for some business owners to pay back to the community by helping. He said if the business owners do not want to help then the community can join hands and agree not to buy in that business.
He also pleaded with Mogoditshane residents to take advantage of the population and do small businesses as way of making money. Rakgare earlier this year told Parliament that it is time Mogoditshane becomes a township with its own mayor. This week Rakgare further reiterated the point saying Mogoditshane should be recognised or made into a town. Rakgare feels that Mogoditshane, if turned into a township, is expected to come out as a linkage between urban and rural life, and perhaps build on existing economic, social and environmental ties.