“Batho bao ba lwela maemo”-Mayor Majere
Opposition Councilors in the Francistown City Council (FCC) have threatened to sue the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) led house for failure to comply with the council’s Standing Orders.
The 10 councilors, six from Botswana Congress Party (BCP), and four from the ousted Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), have slapped the council with a 30-day statutory notice to sue through their lawyers Manenji Attorneys.
According to the aggrieved councilors, Standing Order 5.2 requires the city council in mandatory terms, to ensure the appointments of committees is based on a cross sectional representation of all parties in the council.
In an interview with The Voice, Mophane Ward Councilor Thabo Nyambe said UDC has literally kept opposition councilor away from council activities by denying them seats in the committees. “Councils are run through committees. That is where decisions are made, so if were not part of these committees, this simply means we’ll never know what is happening within the council,” he said.
Nyambe said the Standing Order clearly states that appointing committees shall as much as practicable be evenly distributed among the members of the council. “There’s only 10 of us but most of us are only in one committee, while UDC councilors are in more than five committees, and also chairing them,” he said.
The outspoken BCP Councilor said before involving their lawyers they tried to engage internally but were ignored by the city Mayor.
Reached for comment, the City Mayor Gaone Majere said his council is too busy and focused on uplifting the lives of Francistowners. “As for committee positions, we’ll deal with those later,” said Majere. “Batho bao ba lwela maemo, nna re busy (they are fighting for positions, we’re busy)’ was Majere’s curt reply.
The Mayor said every decision was taken at a Full Council session in the presence of all opposition members. “They took part in the elections and passed all resolutions. They can’t then turn around and sue themselves because they are party to the resolutions made,” Majere said.
He said he has no power to reverse a decision made by the Full Council. “We’re focused on more pressing issues affecting our people in the city. I’ve very little sleep because there’s so much work to be done,” he said.
The Mayor and his team however have been given 30 days or prepare for a date at the high court where the opposition councilors will seek orders against the council to comply strictly with provisions of Standing Order 5.2.
