KHAMA’S P100,000 WATER BILL ARREARS
My office is working on getting the bills paid - Khama
FORMER President, Ian Khama, owes Water Utilities Corporation over P100,000 in water bills for his two homes in Gaborone and Mosu, The Voice can reveal.
For the plot in Mosu, Khama was in arrears of a whopping P84,244.67 as of August 31st, 2021 while for the plot in Gaborone the former President owed Water Utilities Corporation (WUC) P38,920 as of September 30th.
When The Voice reporter visited the Mosu compound in 2014, WUC had just connected water to the compound after failed attempts to dig a private borehole for the then President.
Reached for an official comment on the debt owed to them by the former President, WUC said they were bound by contractual obligation not to speak on the matter.
“WUC enters a contract with customers for the supply of water and all customer information held by WUC is confidential and only made available to the account owners, or those that have been mandated and or authorised by the account owners,” WUC strategy and Corporate Affairs Director, Peter Sedingwe, responded.
Asked why they haven’t disconnected Khama and yet they have targeted ordinary citizens with arrears as little as P2,000, WUC said in a statement, “WUC communicates and engages with all customers pertaining to its products and services. The communication messaging covers the status of water services per area, changes in policies or processes that affect service delivery, including account management. Further to that, during the SOE, all those who were disconnected before SOE were reconnected as water is an essential ingredient in the fight against Covid-19.”
Before the State of Public Emergency (SOPE) WUC had disconnected 40,000 households.
The corporation further explained that their plan of action involves facilitating customers with requisite information and knowledge to better manage their accounts through an account management strategy to enhance customer communication and reach through the use of different media channels.
“Customer notification on the payment arrangement availed by WUC allows for outstanding amounts to be paid over a period of six months,” WUC further explained.
Meanwhile, Khama has readily admitted that he is aware of some outstanding balances of his water bill but not to the tune of P100,000.
“There are some outstanding water bills for one of my residences which are from 2018 when I was President. My office is working on getting these bills paid as all my water bills were taken care of by government. WUC has never contacted us,” Khama said in a response to The Voice’s questions.
Asked if WUC gives special preferences to Politically Exposed persons, the corporation said, “WUC promotes and facilitates for policies, processes and procedures that enable the fair treatment of customers. Key to note is that WUC has different customer segments (government, business, councils, domestic), and decisions are made from time to time to ensure service continuity.”