Africa-Press – Botswana. Village Development Committees (VDC’s) and Ward Development Committees (WDC’s) are the driving forces behind sustainable community development, says deputy director in the Department of Community Development, Ms Delic Sehunwe.
Ms Sehunwe, who was speaking at the Ghanzi District Council VDC/WDC awards ceremony recently, said the committees were recognised structures charged with community driven development projects within a village or ward. She called for active participation of both committees and community members to build communities resilient to economic challenges.
Ms Sehunwe also urged committees to empower their communities through programmes availed by the Ministry of Local Government and other stakeholders, suggesting that they could utilise available natural resources to come up with sustainable empowerment projects.
Furthermore, she said government was committed to achieving prosperity for all as envisioned in Vision 2036, and that the development committees played a pivotal role in achieving some goals through their volunteerism, hard work and passion.
She urged them to uphold teamwork and tolerance as that would enable them to face challenges and to address them in an amicable manner.
On other issues, she called for collaboration with VDC’s and WDC’s, saying it would help in their decision making during planning for implementation of community developments.
She said government could not achieve Vision 2036 goals alone and that the private sector and individuals should assist government to achieve the set goals and objectives.
On other issues, she praised African Mining Services (AMS) for the three-year sponsorship of the awards for over P200 000.
For his part, AMS public relations and communication manager, Mr Archibald Ngakayagae said they were committed to developing resilient communities with a knack for economic development.
He said the sponsorship was testimony of their dedication to foster development, innovation and creativity at the grassroots levels. He said by recognising and rewarding efforts it would inspire a culture of innovation and community driven developments that would have a lasting impact on the socio-economic development of the Ghanzi region.
Mr Ngakayagae also called for collaboration between the district leadership and the private sector. He said the awards would create healthy competition across communities that would drive continuous improvement and efficient delivery within VDC’s and WDC’s.
In her welcome remarks, Ghanzi Customary Court president, Kgosi Annah Rankho urged VDC’s and WDC’s to cooperate and to consult village leaders on community developments projects. She also encouraged them to align their projects to Vision 2036 goals, and that they should embrace mindset change to stay abreast of changing global trends.
In his closing remarks, deputy council chairperson, Mr Gabriel Nguahoka praised Ghanzi District Council and AMS for the collaboration in rewarding the committees.
He said the awards would motivate them to be effective in planning and implementing projects for their communities.
Meanwhile, New Xade VDC emerged the best overall performing VDC while Morama won the best overall performing WDC and both pocketed P10 000 and other prizes from other competition categories.
The awards categories included good governance, environmental upkeep, financial management, cultural heritage, creativity and innovation, Reset Agenda and sustainable projects.
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