16 Oct 2018

Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development permanent secretary, Mr Boipelo Khumomatlhare says there is likelihood that district commissioners might be placed under the local government ministry.

Addressing a senior management forum in Francistown on October 15, Mr Khumomatlhare said district commissioners felt misplaced at the Office of the President.

He also informed council secretaries and town clerks that it was likely that the poverty eradication office would be placed under local government ministry.

Mr Khumomatlhare said they were welcome but challenging developments looking at the staff complement of the ministry and the workload it was facing.

He requested officers to provide parliamentary answers on time to allow the minister time to work on them before briefing Parliament.

He said some officers had a tendency of providing answers at the eleventh hour making it difficult for the minister to digest.

On other issues, Mr Khumomatlhare briefed the meeting on the performance of the ministry, revenue collection, project implementation, vacancies and financial management among other issues.

He said the ministry was planning to build 22 tribal administration offices countrywide, adding that the projects were at tendering stage.

Mr Khumomatlhare said the Department of Tribal Administration had been left behind for too long and that it was time they were given attention.

The department, he said, was faced with challenges including transport shortage, old or no furniture.

He also explained that the ministry was inundated with vacancies which needed to be filled in a short period of time.

He also appealed to officers to make sure that Village Extension Teams (VET) were resuscitated.

Mr Khumomatlhare appealed to councils to share the limited resources they had be it vehicles or human capital.

He said the country was currently faced with an outbreak of diarrhea hence resource sharing was needed.

He added that the local government ministry had been asked to assist with two vehicles per district to address the problem of diarrhea.

Mr Khumomatlhare encouraged officers to register in the ongoing general elections registration exercise so that they could vote next year.

For their part, some officers said the problem of vacancies in the ministry was caused by the fact that other ministries and departments poached from them.

Some suggested that pre-planning of activities was crucial to minimise challenges during implementation.

Regarding festivals, officers said the law does not give them the power to use their discretion of extending time, but that the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development insisted on that.

They vowed to stick to the law, noting that the law required that festivals close at 12 midnight not 6am as suggested by the youth ministry.

The three-day meeting was held to reflect on the performance and administration issues notwithstanding the developments in the ministry.

It will be followed by community service activities led by Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi and her assistant, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse and Mr Khumomatlhare on October 17.

The activities will take place simultaneously at Kgosi Sebopelo Day Care Centre, Mmandunyane, Moroka Primary School Special Education Unit and Monarch Recreational Park and youth clinic.

The ministry will also host an open day activity to take services to the people in Francistown on October 18 at the Botswana Service Bank open space. ENDS