17 Jun 2025

Financial position of Bobirwa District Council is not in a healthy position, the chairperson, Mr Johannes Gaosikelwe says.

Speaking during the opening of the full council session, Monday, Mr Gaosikelwe said the council continued to struggle with deficit carried over from previous financial years, which have significantly constrained our ability to deliver services efficiently. 

“At a national level, the country’s coffers are shrinking, and as a council that relies heavily on government grant, we are directly impacted,” said Mr Gaosikelwe, adding that the situation called for prudent financial management.

“We must intensify efforts to reduce unnecessary expenditure, implement cost-saving measures, and most importantly, develop innovative strategies to increase our local revenue generation,” the chairperson added.

He said the sustainability of the council’s development efforts depended on how well it could adapt to the aforementioned realities and took collective responsibility for building a resilient and self-sufficient council.

However, the chairperson said that some of the tenets of his roadmap gained traction while others were headed for fruition.

“Although challenges remain, I can confidently say that our collective commitment has started to bear visible results,” he said and added that his roadmap was in motion.

At the heart of his strategy was the drive to reduce overreliance on central government funding. This, he said could be achieved through revenue maximisation and economic resilience.

To kick-start the strategy, the council established two committees with one focused on revenue maximisation and the other on investment and partnerships.

“These will drive the goals of promoting sound financial oversight and identification public-private partnership opportunities respectively,” Mr Gaosikelwe said.

The chairperson also claimed that commitment to infrastructure development was evident through strategic advocacy and collaboration saying they had engaged with national leadership to support border and corridor development.

He cited the recent tour by Assistant Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr Keoagile Atamelang where the importance of transforming entry points like Platjan and Zanzibar border gates into economic corridors were highlighted.

While celebrating some of the cited milestones, the chairperson hastened to warn that challenges still persisted.

“The majority of our roads remain in a poor state, many villages remain dark at night due to the absence or shortage of streetlights and tower lights and key infrastructure still requires urgent attention,” Mr Gaosikelwe said. ENDS