Fake Husbands Are Here

Nnasaretha Kgamanyane
Correspondent | Monday March 25, 2013 00:00

 

Desperate Batswana women who think they have scored, marry foreign nationals whom they meet  on social network sites, only to be dumped by the men after acquiring Botswana passports and Omang.Now the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Edwin Batshu is criss-crossing the country warning women against the traps because, according to him, these foreign husbands marry them just to acquire Botswana citizenship for mercenary intentions.

Minister Batshu says his office is inundated with visits by frustrated and broken hearted Batswana women who want revenge. They come to his office asking him to deport the former husbands when they eventually realise they have been used. The minister told the women in particular to watch out 'for foreign men who ask for their hand in marriage' claiming that they love them whilst they know that all they want is to acquire Botswana citizenships.

Batshu warned that after such men get citizenship they file for divorce knowing that they will take a share of your inheritance. 'I would advise women to be very careful when they marry foreigners. My ministry takes time to carefully investigate marriages so that we can give citizenship only to people we find genuine and eligible,' Batshu noted.

He said that his warning did not mean that he disapproved of such marriages but just wanted Batswana to be careful as to who they fall in love with 'as love can make a person blind' with catastrophic consequences.Batshu also expressed great concern at the mushrooming of churches in Botswana. He said that even though some churches come with good intentions, some are here to milk Batswana's pockets.

The minister cautioned the public against churches that seem to demand a lot of money from them instead of preaching the word of God. He said that some churches are involved in criminal activities that 'one may not see' and warned the residents to be alert.When commenting, Gaborone West residents told the minister that they were also concerned about churches that emerge in different parts of their community.

Marulamantsi residents said that they were concerned about churches that are located in the middle of their ward, as they could not sleep as they conduct services daily and throughout the night. They urged the minister to stop registering new churches, as there are already too many of them in the country.

The community also cried of unemployment amongst the youth in Gaborone West. They said that most of the youth - even those who have completed tertiary education - are unemployed and that most of them work at Ipelegeng (labour- intensive) projects. Some complained of ill treatment and exploitation by local security companies, saying that they are underpaid, work unpaid overtimes and are paid late.

Responding to this, the minister told them that his department (of labour) is working on establishing an organisation that will evaluate church applications and investigate if those churches or pastors are legitimate.