01 Oct 2013

North East District councillors have demanded that they be refunded all the money they have contributed into the Mmasepala Wealth Plan, a funeral and savings scheme that was set up for councillors and local authorities.

Councillors accused the Botswana Local Authorities Association (BALA) during a special full council meeting in Masunga on September 26, for not doing enough to safeguard the interests of councillors in entering into an agreement with Peo Boswa Insurance Brokers and Metropolitan Botswana for the setting up of the scheme.

Nominated councillor, Ms Ndinani Makhulela said it was surprising for BALA to have agreed with the insurers for the setting up of a policy spanning 10 years when councillors’ tenure of office was only five years. Ms Makhulela said what complicated the situation further was that when the scheme was introduced they were not informed that there was an intermediary between Metropolitan Botswana and BALA.

She said the involvement of Peo Boswa insurance brokers was made known to them only after it had become apparent that the scheme was having problems. Ms Makhulela thus called on BALA to refund all councillors their money as the association had proved it could not be trusted.

Cllr Ronald Zwinila of Masunga said BALA had let them down and also called for the refunding of all the money they had paid into the scheme. He said what the association had done in collecting councillors’ money into a scheme that had the potential to plunge them into poverty was wrong; noting that there was thus need that a solution to the problem be found urgently.

Mosojane councillor, Mr Saul Duha also expressed disappointment that some details were kept secret until the problem surfaced. At the inception of the scheme, Mr Duha said they were not told that those aged over 65 would not be assisted, saying such information only came to light later when they had started paying contributions into the scheme.

Amazingly however, he noted that though they were told that the system had rejected those over 65 years, their contributions into the scheme were not stopped; wondering why their money was being taken though they could not be members of the Mmasepala Wealth Plan on account of age. Cllr Dikitso Mandevu of Gulubane said it was clear that the scheme had not been fully thought through at its inception.

He said with BALA having failed them, they would have to meet and decide as a council whether or not to terminate its membership of the association. Mr Mandevu said in the meantime, the monthly subscription fees that councillors pay for their BALA membership should be stopped. Commenting on the matter, another nominated councillor, Mr Chibuya Kuchwe also labelled BALA as untrustworthy.

He pointed out that the association had recently informed the councillors that they would get their money back, a promise that he said BALA did not fulfil. Mr Kuchwe noted that going forward would be difficult for them to trust BALA as clearly the association did not have the interests of councillors at heart.

Matshelagabedi councillor, Ms Winnie Showa also concurred with calls for the monthly membership fees to be stopped. She said since BALA was established, there was nothing that councillors could show for their membership with the association.

Cllr Edward Makhumalo of Moroka called on the council leadership to step in and fight for councillors’ rights; observing that as things stood it was highly probable that councillors would lose the money they had paid into the Mmasepala Wealth Plan. Earlier on, Mr Steve Pheko from BALA had informed the meeting that the scheme had encountered problems.
The problem, he said, had resulted from the underwriter, Metropolitan Botswana suspending the scheme because it had failed to bring on board the anticipated number of 604 councillors who had been expected to join.

Mr Pheko added that BALA had set up a committee to investigate what could have led to the problems being faced as well as come up with recommendations on the best course of action that could be taken. He said one of the things that the committee had so far unearthed was that Peo Boswa Insurance Brokers had not passed to BALA some recommendations from Metropolitan Botswana on what could be done to ensure compliance with insurance regulations.

One such recommendation, he noted was that councillors aged over 65 could use their children’s names to join to prevent rejection by the system used by Metropolitan Botswana. Mr Pheko said it had also become clear that at the beginning, councillors were not informed that they could not choose a funeral scheme and leave out the saving plan.

In the end, he informed the meeting that issues surrounding the Mmasepala Wealth Plan would be discussed at the upcoming BALA congress, expressing hope for an amicable solution. ENDS