I pressurised government to restock in Bobirwa – Lucas

Bobirwa legislator, Taolo Lucas, has taken credit for the restocking and compensation of Bobirwa farmers who were affected by the cross-border livestock rustling. Responding to the Budget Speech in Parliament, Lucas claimed to have put President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his government under pressure to act.

He pointed out that for 58 years, people in their region were under attack until he pressurised the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)-led regime. “Ke ne ka faka pressure mo go Domgrag le Masisi ke gone abo go nna le pharologanyo (I put pressure on BDP and Masisi and as result there was a difference),” he said. Lucas said Masisi has bowed down to pressure because of the fear of losing the presidency.

In response, Masisi who was in Parliament to respond to the budget, indicated that Lucas should thank the government for restocking in his constituency. “Remember that we delivered customised all purpose vehicles (APV) to help patrol and fight rustlers who were tormenting your region. Me and my Zimbabwean counterpart intervened and found a way to reduce attacks on Bobirwa people. You should be thankful that we have promised people in your constituency that we will deliver more cattle for restocking in the coming month,” Masisi said.

Last December, Assistant Minister of Agriculture, Molebatsi Molebatsi, told Parliament that following comprehensive assessment and verification of all applications, 958 farmers who lost their livestock through rustling were eligible for the livestock restocking relief programme.

Molebatsi said the relief programme comprised 2, 827 cattle, 97 bulls, 367 sheep, 4, 890 goats and 296 donkeys for all eligible beneficiaries in Bobirwa.

Molebatsi also explained that the substantive Mnister of Agriculture, Fidelis Molao, said the total cost for the relief programme is over P21 million for livestock, P12 million for operational costs and 10% contingency of over P3 million.

The minister pointed out that the total cost of the relief programme is over P36 million. Late last month, the state-owned agency, BOPA, reported that government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, had commenced the re-stocking exercise to compensate farmers who were affected by the cross-border livestock rustling in the Bobirwa area.

It was reported that government was currently packaging farmers who had lost small stock (goats and sheep) and that the latter will then start purchasing livestock for those who lost their cattle. The exercise, expected to take three months, started on January 18 and is expected to be completed by April 18.

In terms of the attacks in Bobirwa, government last year delivered four customised APV and livestock relief in response to the cross-border livestock rustling that had ravaged Bobirwa region for over four decades and left farmers impoverished.

The vehicles was each worth about P3 million and was meant to enable police patrol borders between Botswana and Zimbabwe as well as South Africa where cross-border stock theft was rampant.

The vehicles were reportedly capacitated with cameras for photo and video taking.