‘I miss my days as Sports Minister’

Minister of Defenc, Justice and Security minister Shaw Kgathi who also doubles as Member of Parliament for Bobirwa is worried by the conditions of service prevailing in his ministry, which have led to high staff turnover and falure to retain the best employees. Kgathi was speaking last week during the official opening of the Diretorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office in Selibe Phikwe. Kgathi said there is a serious challenge concerning conditions of service as the ministry fails to retain their best employees who quit in large numbers for greener pastures. He said the opening of the office clearly indicates that contrary to popular belief, Selibe Phikwe will not become a ghost town. Kgathi said the construction of Platjaan Bridge and the opening of Mabolwe border post will bring the much-needed change in the town. The opening of the DPP office comes at a time when prosecutors from Francistown, Palapye and Gaborone had to travel at government expenses to try criminal cases before Selibe Phikwe Magistrates court. Moreover, Kgathi said that in the past the police would drive long distances to DPP offices incurring high fuel expenses in the process to attend to matters but it will no longer be so. On a lighter note and digressing from his speech, Kgathi waxed nostalgic about his time as Minister of Sports and Culture. He recounted some of the feats that he achieved during his tenure in that portfolio, among them, the Botswana National Football team qualifiying for their first-ever African Nations Cup under Coach Stanley Tshosane. “I am home sick when I think of my time at the Ministry of Sports and Culture and when I see Kala Tsa Kgale performance and other groups in Botswana. You will recall that I started Constituency tournaments, President’s Day Celebrations and Centres of Excellence,” Kgathi recalled.