- Says eligible loan applicants are not submitting applications
- The Mayor blames politicians for misinformation
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
The Mayor of Francistown, Godisang Radisigo, has decried the low turnout of applicants for Chema-Chema by eligible people in Botswana’s second city.
Addressing the ongoing Full Council meeting, the Mayor said while 4 181 have completed the first stage of the process for eligibility and can therefore submit their loan applications for approval, only few have done so.
So far, 41 486 Chema-Chema applications have been received nationwide and 28 496 valued at P304 million approved for funding.
Only a handful
“The Chema-Chema fund rolled out on 8 April 2024 has thus far registered a total of 4977 in Francistown,” Radisigo said. “Out of this registered total number, 4181 are eligible to apply for Chema-Chema loans.
“However, … only a handful number has submitted applications for approval by CEDA. This is despite numerous calls to those eligible to make their submissions.”
In a subsequent interview on the sidelines of the ongoing Full Council, the Mayor attributed the low rate of Chema-Chema applications to misinformation and impatience of the applicants.
Opposition politicians
“What we have established is that some applicants are not familiar with the application process,” he said.
“Some think that once they are declared eligible, the process has ended and they await funding, which is wrong. Some are just impatient with the process because they think it is too long.”
He blamed politicians for spreading wrong information. “Some opposition politicians tell people that once they fail to pay back the money, severe action will be taken against them,” the Mayor said.
“People fall for this and don’t come forward. What people should understand is that this is a revolving fund that should therefore be accounted for.”