05 Nov 2013

Councils remain some of the most corrupt offices in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development.

The project manager for the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Mr Reginald Mlambo, said the corruption prevention committee must be represented by each unit and be chaired at the highest level of the organisation.

He said committees must be functional and not just end at planning stage. The DCEC deputy director general for policy, Ms Botlhale Makgekgenene, also highlighted the disturbing rate of corruption in the ministry, saying that councils were leading in corruption.

“Most of these corrupt practices border on fraudulent misappropriation of funds and irregular procurement processes,” she said. Ms Makgekgenene said unjust and unfair treatment of staff based on bribery was also another factor, adding that human resources practices must be looked into.

She called on Chobe District Council to embrace anti-corruption efforts and raise awareness about corruption incidents. She reminded them to report their findings to their parent ministry. She pointed out that Botswana’s international corruption ratings, which were normally excellent, encouraged corrupt practices to increase as people were getting comfortable with being rated the least corrupt country in Africa.

“We need to start comparing ourselves to other countries outside Africa,” she said referring to Botswana’s corruption rating of best among the worst. “The reality is that corruption is increasing in our country. Incidents are on the rise.” She called on political leadership to support the anti-corruption initiatives.

In March this year, the President, Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama also addressed local authorities about increasing incidents of corruption in Botswana despite the country’s excellent international ratings.

“Although Transparency International continues to rank Botswana as the least corrupt country in Africa, there are worrying reports of incidences of corruption across ministries and local authorities in particular,” he had said when addressing Chobe District Council. ENDS