The Ministry of Youth Sport and Culture said the delays in the payment to the heritage award winners can be attributed to the systems delays and not to the sponsors. This follows reports that the delays could have been occasioned by the sponsors

The Ministry spokes-person Keneilwe Segopolo says all the three sponsors, the Botswana Development Corporation (BDC), Stanbic Bank, and Barclays Bank released payment a week after the celebrations and were not responsible for any delay. BDC sponsored the event with P90,000, while Stanbic Bank and Barclays committed P55,000, and P50,000 respectively.

However Segopolo says delays have been caused by the water tight clearance procedures in the ministry to verify names for processing of payments. She said that they also had to agree on modalities of paying individuals in groups, adding that some performing groups had very big numbers. Segopolo says people should appreciate that an event of this magnitude was always going to be a challenge since it was being done for the first time.

She explained that the government pays in batch system, and so due process had to be followed, even though it can cause delays. "We had to ensure that names are written accordingly, and that the right bank accounts were given to us, where necessary. We started with those artists who won lucrative prizes.

'As of Friday last week, the ministry had started processing payment for the Arts section which was coordinated by the Museum and Art Gallery. If there is anyone yet to receive their dues, they can only blame us, the ministry, and not the stakeholders', Segopolo added.

She however praised the efforts by President Ian Khama to empower the arts in this country.

'The objective was to empower the local artists so they get the recognition they deserve. The aim is to boost the arts industry, and make Batswana appreciate their own artists', the Spokesperson concluded.