15 Apr 2026

Parliament has been informed that construction of the Mmokolodi Kgotla access road commenced on November 19, 2024 and was scheduled for completion by end of October 2025. 

Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Mr Noah Salakae, however explained that the road had not been completed due to various reasons, the most prominent of which was abnormal rainfall experienced during the late 2024 and early 2025 rainy season.

 “These rains caused disruptions, resulting in a lot of hours lost on site and the most notable disruption was the significant rise in the water table, prompting issuance of variation orders to provide subsurface drainage. In that regard, substantial extension of time was awarded to make up for the lost period,” he said. 

He said other issues that bordered on the project were to do with land expropriation, which the ministry was working round the clock to manage. 

He said over and above the challenges highlighted, the contractor’s rate of progress had also not been satisfactory, largely due to failure to adequately provide such requisite resources as skilled human resources and plant or machinery.

 “This has resulted in financial strain on the part of the contractor, subsequently affecting payment of suppliers and procurement of materials,” he added. Mr Salakae also acknowledged that there had been instances where the contractor failed to pay monthly salaries to the workforce and personnel seconded to the supervising engineer. 

“This has been on account of the poor cashflow by the contractor, partly due to the long periods between submission of Interim Payment Certificates (IPCs) by the contractor, oftentimes three to four months.

 In the 16 months that have elapsed since commencement of the project, the contractor has submitted five Interim Payment Certificates,” he said. Mr Salakae added that currently, payments for four of the five certificates had been made and the only outstanding payment was for the last one which was submitted on April 2 and was still within the prescribed payment standard time. 

He also acknowledged that of the four IPCs paid, the first two were paid late by 57 days and 22 days respectively, while the last two were paid within the set standard payment time. Thus, he said, the issue of delayed payment to the contractor had already been addressed and the ministry would continue to monitor compliance to contractual timelines for payments. 

Mr Salakae further admitted that delayed consultation created unnecessary anxiety, therefore, time permitting, the ministry would arrange a kgotla meeting to address the Mmokolodi community and update them on the status of the project. Mr Salakae noted the suggested 2km road link between Mmokolodi, Goo Nku, Tloaneng and Gabane villages would, by far, enhance connectivity and ease traffic congestion in roads with close proximity to Mmokolodi. 

He added that the ministry would explore other funding modalities for the project, outside the on-going Mmokolodi kgotla access road project. He also said the total length of the Mmokolodi Kgotla access road was 5.46km from Gaborone-Boatle (A1 road), around 2km out of 5.46km fell outside Gamalete Development Trust’s Iand (Farm Forest Hill 9-KO) while the remaining 3.26km was within the Gamalete Development Trust’s Farm Forest Hill 9-K0.ENDS