Three councillors eye BALA presidency

Three councillors are eyeing the presidential post ahead of the Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) National Conference scheduled for next week. The current BALA president Geoffrey Sibisibi will not run for the seat. The national conference will be held in Maun from September 20-22, at the Maun Lodge and it will be officially opened by the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Kgotla Autlwetse.

Some of the councillors who are eyeing the BALA presidency include Flora Mpetsane, Fankie Motsaathebe and Ketshwereng Galeragwe. In an interview, Sibisibi confirmed to Mmegi that he will not be defending his position at the coming national conference. “I believe I have done my part and there are things that councillors have gained since we took over but we did not do a lot due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I will pave the way for other councillors who also have a zeal to take BALA somewhere.” For his part, Motsaathebe confirmed that he will be contesting for the BALA presidency. “I will focus on devolution of powers to councils, decentralisation and the return of water, gravel roads and clinics among others to our councils. Working conditions of councillors need to be improved in response to the current challenges. There is a need to empower councillors through relevant training to capacitate them to deliver on their mandate. Again I will ensure that BALA’s role is strengthened as a representative of the second sphere of local government. And I will also advocate the formulation of a post-service programme to prepare former councillors to become part of the mainstream economy and to continue serving the community,” Motsaathebe said. Galeragwe said if his team wins, then they will advocate their voice to be heard as councillors. “We want councils to be given powers rather than having to seek approval of Ministry of Local Government to implement or seek advice from them when it has to do something in the area.

Councils are failing to deliver on their mandate at times due to the delay and processes they are forced to go through for it to provide services to people. Batswana are suffering since a lot of things have been transferred from councils. For example, when water was under the Water Affairs department not under Water Utilities Cooperation (WUC), residents never experienced issues of high bills and serious water shortages and clinics also had drugs.

Again we want councils to be given powers so that they could be able to generate their own funds just like in other countries. Currently, councils do not have enough resources to service their areas due to lack of funds,” Galeragwe said in an interview. Another issue that Galeragwe said he will be advocating is the welfare of councillors since he believes that their salaries are not enough as compared to their work. Another aspirant candidate, Florah Mpetsane who is the outgoing vice president, said her aim is to continue to implement the BALA strategic plan. “I want to foster partnerships nationally and internationally for local economic development within the country.

Again I want to continue to dialogue on the working conditions of councillors through regular engagement with our parent ministry. I will ensure that BALA constitutional review is finalised and also my intention is to improve the integrity of the association by re-branding. The perception is that the organisation is only for councillors but it is also for council staff,” she said. However, the national conference is the highest governing body of BALA and is charged with constitutional matters of the association including the election of the executive committee.

The gathering will be held under the theme “Leveraging on Local Authorities’ Comparative Advantage To Build Better, Post COVID-19” in particular to local economies as they were hardly hit by the pandemic.

Discussions will be centred around the creation of conducive economic environments and interventions in order to build sustainable local economies, informal economy comparative advantage in Local Economic Development and linkages between Central Government, Local Authorities and Private Sector in harnessing resources for sustainable recovery.