01 Jun 2014

The Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) is happy with the trend at which local authorities utilises funds allocated to them.

This was said by the MLGRD permanent secretary, Mr Boipelo Khumomatlhare, when responding to a question from PAC member and also Palapye MP, Mr Moiseraele Goya, during the Public Accounts Committee meeting.

Mr Goya had asked Mr Khumomatlhare if he was happy with the way funds were utilised at the local authorities, if the funds were accounted for and whether the ministry got reports from local authorities detailing how they utilised funds allocated to them.

Mr Khumomatlhare said the ministry was happy with the trend in which the district councils used their funds, “because all the accounting officers do appear before the Local Authorities Public Accounts Committee. "We are usually getting the report from the chairperson who usually briefs the minister accordingly.”

However, he said there were areas where a lot of effort must be put in. For instance, he said of recent there had been cases of whether there was prudent spending on procurement of new vehicles. 

This area, he said had been a concern to the ministry and to address this issue, the ministry had advised districts to ensure that they procured vehicles which were adequate for the terrain, so that they could serve the purpose. 

“If you buy a vehicle which is 4 by 4 you end up expending on the maintenance of such a vehicle, but if it was taken to the extension areas maybe it would serve the purpose,” he said.

“For example, if you take the Town Councils, we have advised that they should not procure the 4 by 4s, as we are sure we do not need their utilisation, but rather procure the cars, because the terrain in the Towns is adequate for those vehicles,” he added.

This advice,  Mr Khumomatlhare said was given at the ministry’s senior management forums, during the previous financial year. 

He said the ministry is gradually monitoring to ensure that there is such compliance.

This request, he said was meant to avoid expending too much funds on the maintenance of such vehicles, adding that the forums were mainly attended by district commissioners, council secretaries and tribal secretaries. 

To ensure compliance and adherence, Mr Khumomatlhare said the ministry would continuously monitor local authorities.

Of recent, he said he knew that, generally, the bulk of the vehicles that had been procured for Towns, such as Francistown and Lobatse, had been small cars. 

The only vehicles that the ministry had been guarding against, the MLGRD permanent secretary said were the vehicles that were being procured for the Central Government departments, such as the Tribal Administration. 

“For the current financial year, we are procuring about 23 vehicles and most of which we are procuring we are ensuring that for the Towns we buy small cars, but for extension areas we do buy them the 4 by 4s to suite the terrain,” he added.

Public Accounts Committee commended the MLGRD team for doing a good job on its report, despite being a very big ministry.  Ends