Villagers at war over donated 65-seater bus

A 65-seater bus worth over P600 000 that was donated to Mabuo villagers by local business AT Bus Body Builders back in 2021 has been dumped in the middle of the village and going to waste.The bus was donated to assist with transporting students from Mabuo to Mothama Junior Secondary School which is located some 40km away in Moiyabana village.The donation came through the help of the Botswana Muslim Association (BMA) after realizing that students walked long distances to school and their safety was comprised.BMA then approached AT Bus Builders and a bus was donated. But shortly after it arrived in Mabuo, war erupted over ownership of the vehicle. The village leadership wants ownership of the bus; they want bus donors to hand over the bus to them.Kgosi Ontiretse Godirilweng told The Midweek Sun that it does make sense that BMA and the donors are refusing with the vehicle registration book yet they say the bus belongs to them.“We want full ownership; we want to be able to control the bus. What if there is something wrong with that bus yet they expect us to put our children inside that bus,” said Kgosi.Godirilweng shared that the bus war has been ongoing for a very long time so much that they are no longer in speaking terms with leaders of the Muslim association in Mabuo.Reached for comment, General Manager at AT Bus Body Builders Milton Mbaiwa confirmed that the bus is still in their names. He explained that they donated the bus hoping that they are assisting students but now they are stilltrying to find the best way to handle the ownership issue.“We are not sure what to do, we cannot hand over the bus to the Kgosi, putting the bus in his names is not a good move. If we give it to the school, the bus will be council property meaning it will then be used to benefit the entire region. We want to be sure that the bus is used for the intended purpose,” he said, adding that at first the deal was such that they would service the bus, fuel it and hire a driver for villagers. All they had to do was allow their children to use it.“We definitely did not donate that bus for it to park, we will see how best to solve this matter,” Mbaiwa assured.Mikail Mazinyane who is doing administration work for BMA in Mabuo told the The Midweek Sun that they are thinking of returning the bus to Bus Body Builders because it is a big vehicle and if given to members of the community for 100 percent control, they will not be able to maintain it.“We are thinking of returning it to the donor then get a small bus which we will give to the Village Development Committee (VDC) then hand it to them so it becomes their responsibility, they will maintain it and hire a driver for it because the association does not want its name tarnished because of a bus,” he said.On the other hand, one elderly woman Senori Bonowang said she is still waiting for the association to come take their bus which is parked in front of her home.“It has been here for a very long time, they were renting one of my houses before they built the church. They have left their clothes and carpets in my house. You should ask them when they intend to pay me,” said the old woman.Mazinyane said they do not owe the old woman any thebe.“We paid them all their monies when we moved. I asked that they keep some carpets for me explaining that I would get them at a later stage. When I returned, she told me that there were some clothes I left there and I told her they were not mine. There was a back and forth and I told her to do whatever she wanted with the carpets,” Mazinyane explained.

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Villagers at war over donated 65-seater bus