LAST LAUGH FOR COUNCILLORS
Councillors now have preaccess to their exit benefits
It has gotten sweeter and better for Councillors this year. Just a few weeks after government promised them salary increments effective April 1 2022, another carrot has been dangled their way.
Councillors will soon smile all the way to the bank, following government’s decision to allow them to access part of their terminal benefits before the end of their five year political term.
This means that Councillors are now allowed to approach any financial institution of their choice and ask for loans. The institution will not deduct the money from their salaries monthly as is mostly the case but will get it as a lump sum when government pays Councillors their terminal benefits.
“The Ministry continues to be besieged by requests from various councils seeking authority to negotiate with financial institutions to assist Councillors with loans. In that regard, please be informed that authority to negotiate with financial institutions is granted,” reads a savigram from the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development dated 10th March 2022.” Without doubt, Councillors will welcome government’s decision with open arms given that they had of recent been very unhappy with government.
They were even threatening to destabilise power by decampaigning the ruling
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), if their concerns were ignored. The atmosphere was so tense with Councillors furiously pointing fingers at Members of Parliament (MPs) accusing them of only serving own interests, forgetting about them and the dirty work they do to get them to parliament. They further said Councillors are the back bone of politics. They are the ones that remain home with voters, while MPs attend parliament business in the city. They added that members of the community come to them for everything, when hungry or sick they knock on their doors. BDP Councillors were jointly united with opposition parties and swore that they will not stop until something happened.