Thursday, February 13, 2025

North West District in shambles

The North West District Council (NWDC) has been classified “ungraded” and described as one of the worst and least performing councils in the country.

This surfaced during an urgent motion brought by Okavango Sub Council Chairman Mbahahauka Kambimba on Monday. 

Kambimba said together with NWDC chairman Reaboka Mbulawa they got the embarrassment of their lives at a recent meeting in Palapye after learning that the council was “ungraded and classified as one of the worst and least performing councils in the country.”

Kambimba said the council also failed to meet the demands of a projects development review at yet another forum in Francistown recently. 

According to Kambimba, the poor performance and lack of accountability are attributed to the fact that their abilities as individual councilors are limited to policies already in place. 

While he did point fingers, Kambimba said time has come for them as councilors to take officials to task and make sure that the council’s administrative leadership is held accountable for failure to deliver on projects and poor performance. 

Kambimba said there is need for Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development to intervene and address the situation. 

Though he later withdrew his motion, Kambimba appealed to the Ministry of Local Government to put in place “a first aid programme for the NWDC before the end of the financial year, so that the council could be able to perform better going forward.”

But his motion did not go down well with his colleagues who felt that it was poorly crafted and ambiguous. Thus some councilors requested that he withdraw the motion so that he could make amendments to it. But he stood his ground and refused to back down. He insisted that his motion was clear for his colleagues to comprehend. 

“We want to know if this is a motion of no confidence directed at the District Commissioner or the Council Secretary as the district Chief Executive Officer. You need to come out clear so that we may also have a say on the same subject as we are equally concerned by some burning issues of this council,” said councilor Moedi Modiegi.

“Let us know what your main concern is so that we may have the same understanding. Some of us here are more concerned than you are. So open up so that we may show these people the reason why they have to do the right things,” he said.  

Kambimba said he doesn’t have anything against the Council Secretary or the District Commissioner. 

He said he was troubled by some issues that need to be addressed urgently in the district which the council failed to address in the last financial year. 

These, he said are some of the things that delay developments.

By seeking the intervention of Minister Slumber Tsogwane, Kambimba believes the ministry will, through their corporate services department be in a position to carry their own investigations and find out what the problem could be.  

After numerous suggestions by his colleagues, Kambimba finally gave in and withdrew his motion. He said he will find a better administrative approach to handle the issue. His withdrawal of the motion did not sit well with some councilors who were evidently ready to tackle council management head on.

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