Ipelegeng gobbles P6 million every year
UDC proposes labour intensive programme
Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) is working on producing a position paper on how the improved and attractive Ipelegeng Programme should look like.
This was revealed by Leader of Opposition in Parliament Dumelang Saleshando, who is also UDC Vice President, this week. He said that Ipelegeng in its current form is failing to improve the lives of Batswana but each year gobbles between P5million and P6 million.
Sale shando said after producing the position paper the party will then table a motion in Parliament on the improved Ipelegeng that would be beneficial to both the country and those employed under the programme.
“The intention is for the motion to be presented during State of the Nation address. The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has been accusing us of criticising the programme without stating our alternative. So, this will give us a chance to share with the nation the shape and model we would like to see the programme taking for the benefit of all.
“We want Ipelegeng to be turned into a Labour Intensive Programme where at the end there would have been some level of skills acquired. As the UDC we are concerned that people stay long in the programme but when they leave, they cannot survive so we demand for skills benefit.
“There has to be on the job training. Right now, if you compare an Ipelegeng person and someone from prison, the latter is best suited to survive because there have been skills imparted,” Saleshando told the media.
The Maun West legislator revealed that UDC is worried that Ipelegeng being a social welfare programme, people never graduate from it as should be the case with a social welfare programme.
A person can be there for about five ( 5) years which is wrong because in a social welfare programme a person has to graduate, he added. Saleshando said it is also high time that there are tangible results realised from the programme. He said every year funds are spent but there is nothing tangible to show and support the continued existence of the programme.