The sitting of the North West District Council (NWDC) on Monday had to be adjourned following a heated debate by councilors who are against Deputy Council Secretary (Technical Services) Obed Mudongo assuming the position of Acting Council Secretary.
This follows the departure of the susbtative Council Secretary (CS) Charcles Amos who was recently transferred to Southern District Council.
Majority of Councilors are against Mudondo assuming the position of Acting Council Secertary accusing him of among others of incompetency citing “poor infrastructure development in the entire district happened under his watch.”
Mudongo and Cosmos Sewagodimo (Deputy CS Finance and Administration) had fallen out of favour of the district’s political leadership as they accused the duo of halting developments in the district. The district stretches from Maun and surrounding areas to the Okavango Sub-District.
Councilors also felt that the appointment of Mudongo would paralyze all efforts by government to push for developments in their areas which include poor road networks and poor sewage system.
Leading the onslaught, Councilor Kenson Kgaga described Mudongo as a disappointment who has since failed to facilitate change on the image of Maun. He blamed the government for the sudden departure of Amos whom he said was better than his colleagues in high ranking positions within the NWDC.
Furthermore, he said the NWDC has been turned into a training ground for officials who are later transferred when they show signs of improvement.
“We want competent people, not those who come here to advance their interests and leave. On the other hand other officials overstay and end up being conflicted. This has been going on for some time now and we are not happy,” he said.
He added that there is too much corruption going on in council corridors.
“We want the minister responsible to come and address this issue and many others. We are ready and in a position to let lose because this is not the right way of running council.”
Nominated councilor Abel Molelo opined that the NWDC has always been sabotaged by government.
“Majority of us here are from the ruling party, but we have grown tired of always being on the defending side. These two officials are of no good. We have not benefited or learnt a thing from them, despite having to deal with their blunders from time to time. We don’t need them and they must go,” he said.
For his part, Deputy Council Chairman Latlhang Molonda advised fellow councilors to draw a line between the political leadership and administration leadership.
“You are here today complaining on issues of performance by council officials. This is not the right platform as we have the District Development Committee where you can freely voice out your concerns. You must learn to use the best approach because what you are doing today is very wrong,” he said.
“You need to understand also that the government has laid down rules and regulations with regard to the appointment of government officials, their transfers and other related matters. You can advise where possible, but bearing in mind that you have a different mandate to carry out as councilors.”
He said in the absence of Charles, his deputies automatically succeed him. However councilors have vowed they would not participate in full council proceedings until they are given convincing reasons as to why the post of CS cannot be filled.
In the absence of the CS, they said, they would prefer a different person besides Mudongo or Sewagodimo as their relations have soured to a point that they cannot continue working with them.
