23 Mar 2020

 Forming part of several villages located south of the Bangwato capital Serowe, Sehunou is among the numerous villages and settlements in the Central District that still have a long way to go in terms of developments.

The generally sleepy village, whose level of developments is low, boasts of a population of 1 049 people as per the 2011 housing and population census, a figure which comprises 504 males and 545 females.

It is this state of developments, or rather the lack thereof, that has forced the tiny village’s leadership to think deep as to what could be done to change the rather worrying status quo.

And championing the cause to change the outlook of the village is its Village Development Committee (VDC) under the leadership of one Mr Samuel Keaphuthile, a seemingly forward-thinking young man who is among the handful of residents who have had the privilege to move through the education system right through to tertiary level.

Speaking of the dreams the VDC espouses for Sehunou, Mr Keaphuthile believes lack of developments in the village should not be allowed to dampen residents’ spirits and endeavour to see their village grow.

He also believes that while government has a major role to play in efforts to turn around Sehunou’s plight, residents should similarly rise to the occasion and make their presence felt by individually and collectively contributing to the efforts to develop their village.

The fact that now villagers are happy with the manner in which the VDC is discharging its mandate unlike in the past when there was a lot of discord, is encouraging enough and bolsters everyone’s hope that the long and tedious journey that lies ahead will be bearable.

As a bedrock for the work ahead, the Sehunou leadership assembled a team dubbed local leadership committee, a structure comprising all heads of the various local committees in the village.

The committee acts as the glue that binds together different structures and organs to ensure that none operates in silo.

Mr Keaphuthile is content with the work of the new committee thus far as it has been able to help revive some of the committees that were previously only existing on paper.

He said the new committee does not run a mandate parallel to that of VDC as it serves as an advisory board to all the other committees whereas the latter spearheads developments.

The Sehunou leadership, with the backing of residents, has several projects lined up, among them the revival of the village’s piggery project, the introduction of an ostrich farming project as well as the opening of a shop or general dealer.

The piggery project, which had been started through funding from the Action for Economic Empowerment Trust (AEET) collapsed due to poor management, but the current VDC is confident that it will do its utmost best to ensure the project becomes a success.

Mr Keaphuthile and the committee he leads are upbeat about the ostrich farming project that they envision for their village.

The plan is that once it has taken off, the project will be used as a tourist attraction to the village, something that will, in addition to adding on to the VDC’s anticipated income generating activities, also provide the much needed platform to help lure investors to Sehunou.

This spill-over effect would on its own help address current problem of a lack of job opportunities in the village and the associated challenge of rampant joblessness among locals.

As for the general dealer, Mr Keaphuthile’s committee is of the view that, once in operation, the shop would have a couple of benefits, key among those being to generate income for the VDC, bring products and services closer to the Sehunou community as well as serve as a market for products and produce from small businesses in the village.

All these, the VDC believes, will be attained through among other things, what it terms the public private mix, a strategy that will see the village leadership forge strategic partnerships with the private sector to push the village’s developmental agenda.

Ms Rena Osele, who deputises Mr Keaphuthile in the VDC, similarly sees a promising future for the village and can only pray that future VDC leadership will fan the flames and not let the light grow dimmer.

The fact that the youthful section of Sehunou’s population has thrown its weight behind the VDC gives her even more reason to believe that a better future does lay ahead.

Sehunou’s tribal leader, Kgosi Madala Gabagopolwe shares the same dream with the VDC that the village will one day be a spectacle in terms of developments.

He too is happy that dissent regarding the work of the VDC has since died off, and that residents now speak with one voice on issues of developments.

While the road ahead will certainly be bumpy at times, Kgosi Gabagopolwe is convinced that the united front that the people of Sehunou are presenting will help the village forge ahead and draw close to achieving its dream of one day being counted among the most developed human settlements in the country. To him, the light can only grow brighter with each passing day. ENDs