15 Nov 2016

Central District councillors like all others countrywide are only entitled to subsistence allowance when attending council committee meetings both in their respective sub-district and the full council in Serowe.

Answering a question in Parliament of November 15, local government and rural development assistant minister,  Ms Botlogile Tshireletso said councillors were only entitled to imprest when they travel on official duty outside their areas of jurisdiction within Botswana.

“The reason for the disparities are that condition of service for councillors and government officials are not the same,” she said. Ms Tshireletso said councillors make their own accommodation arrangements when attending meetings within their council area of jurisdiction.

Furthermore, she said her ministry was aware that the subsistence allowance was inadequate to cover decent accommodation and other incidentals, given the current cost of living.

She said currently government was reviewing conditions of service for councillors including allowances, adding the practice had been in place since the establishment of district councils and sub-councils.

“The development were not decided by the current chairperson of the Central District Council. Condition of service for councillors are reviewed by government and not by individual council chairpersons,” she said.

Therefore, Ms Tshireletso said she was not in position to state as to when councillors would be given choice to take either imprest or subsistence allowance, because their conditions of service were being reviewed.

Boteti East Member of Parliament, Mr Sethomo Lelatisitswe had wanted the  minister to confirm if it was true that Central District councillors were only entitled to subsistence allowance, but not imprest when attending Council Committee Meetings in their respective sub-districts and the full council in Serowe, while government officials were entitled to imprest or subsistence allowance.

If so, he wanted to know why and how many councillors were affected by the arrangement, to state their wards and where they stay when attending meetings, whether the aforestated subsistence allowance was adequate to cover decent accommodation and other incidentals, how long has the practice been in place, whether the current development was decided by the current chairperson of the council, and if he would consider giving them a choice to take imprest or subsistence allowance; if so, when would this effect. end