Outgoing District Commissioner for North West region, Keolopile Leipego, has advised Maun Sub-District councillors to keep fighting for the rights of children in the area and see to it that sex does not distract them from completing their education.
Leipego who was bidding the council farewell as his contract comes to an end at the end of this month said he was worried about the practice in the district in which some parents sell their daughters for sex.
“I am saying they sell them because as it was raised here in this council, when these girl children come home with shopping plastic bags full of goodies which have been bought for them by men, the parents accept them without questioning them,” Leipego explained.
He added that the practice is a going concern and in fact called it witchcraft on the part of parents who are failing to correct their daughters in these kind of matters.
“Children are not being advised to finish school first; to prioritise education, when they do wrong they are not corrected! Personally I see this as witchcraft or evil,” Leipego expressed his disappointments before asking the councillors to stand against this practice: “Engage parents, dikgosi and all stakeholders who can actively take responsibility to change this social ill,” he added.
Leipego was addressing the education situation in the region which he said, has a long way to go in terms of performance.
He further added that he was pleased that the sector had begun working on a new strategy that would potentially help change the situation for the better.
“I am pleased that in 2020 we held an education pitso in Maun which was very productive and we were on the roll and planning to hold two others in Gumare and Sehithwa. Unfortunately we were disturbed by the outbreak of Covid-19.”
Nonetheless Leipego pinned his hope on the remaining officers to push the district’s education and development agenda and elevate it from the “Back four.”
Leipego said he decided to take an early retirement after being in the district since 2017 and says the government agreed not to renew his contract that ends at the end of August 2021.