15 Oct 2026

Financial constraints facing government have contributed to delays and non-delivery of infrastructure and development projects, Member of Parliament for Serowe South, Mr Leepetswe Lesedi, has said.

Addressing a consultative meeting at Masuga kgotla recently, Mr Lesedi said the prevailing economic challenges had forced government to defer several planned projects across the country, including those in his constituency.

He said the P10 million Constituency Community Project funding, which was budgeted for annually to support small-scale community initiatives such as road maintenance and other grassroots developments, could not be disbursed during the current financial year due to tight fiscal conditions.

Mr Lesedi explained that government revenues were under pressure, forcing the prioritisation of recurrent expenditure over development spending.

He further noted that Serowe District Council had also been affected by the financial constraints. 

He said the council chairperson, Mr Atamelang Thaga, had informed him that the council received P18 million from the Road Levy Fund, earmarked for the construction and maintenance of high-priority internal roads in his constituency.

However, he said the council had been forced to redirect the funds to other pressing needs, including the payment of Ipelegeng workers, the school feeding scheme and support for beneficiaries of the social protection programme receiving coupons.

 

Mr Lesedi acknowledged that diverting the funds was not ideal, but said it was necessary to address immediate needs, noting that failure to pay Ipelegeng workers and provide meals to learners would have negatively affected livelihoods and schoolchildren.

On other issues, Mr Lesedi said Parliament had recently debated and adopted a Bill stipulating that anyone found in possession of human body parts should be charged with murder.

He said the law was intended to curb ritual killings, which had shocked the nation in recent years.

He urged residents to desist from criminal activities and cautioned against using superstition to justify such acts, emphasising that human life was precious and should be protected at all costs.

Mr Lesedi also encouraged residents to report suspicious activities to law enforcement agencies.

Meanwhile, Lontone Village Development Committee chairperson, Ms Tlamelo Masuga, raised concerns over poor service delivery in the area.

She said leaking Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) pipes remained unattended in the area for a long time, resulting in water wastage and raising concerns about the risk of waterborne diseases.

Ms Masuga said despite numerous reports to WUC, no action had been taken, while residents continued to experience intermittent water supply.

She further raised concern over electricity cables leaning towards some homesteads, posing a serious risk to residents, particularly children.

She said the matter had been reported to the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC), but no action had been taken.

Ms Masuga appealed to local leadership to intervene and ensure that the two utility corporations addressed the problems urgently before they resulted in loss of life. ENDS