RORISANG MOGOJWE
The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime is investigating Gaborone City Council (GCC) in relation to SHAA plot allocation and Public Procurement.
When officially opening, GCC Full Council last week, Gaborone City Mayor Father Maphongo said the DCEC has identified Councils as one of the Government institutions where reported cases of corruption are high.
“DCEC has identified Councils as one of the Government institutions where reported cases of corruption are high and even perception from the public is that Councils are corrupt. The reason for this perception is that Councils are dealing with matters that are prone to corruption. Examples of these areas are public procurement, Human Resource Recruitment, land allocation and Bye Law Enforcement” said the mayor.
The Council has recently made the resolve to expedite allocation of SHHA plots to people living with disabilities (PLWDs), in response to the Affirmative Action’s pronouncements contained in the revised Botswana Land Policy (2019).
The Mayor said some of the corruption issues have been picked through internal audit committee.
He added, “My office and that of the Town Clerk has recently met with the Director General of DCEC recently and it came out that there are indeed some cases that are being investigated by DCEC. Some of the cases are related to SHHA plot allocation and public procurement. Some cases are being investigated by Botswana Police and examples are those related to misuse of imprest and fraud.”
Maphongo also also requested committees to be vigilant and ensure that they make decisions after they have informed themselves of what is being discussed. “Therefore I plead with all of us to support Government efforts to fight corruption. If you see corruption happening and you do not report it, you will be considered to be part of it.”
Meanwhile, Maphongo revealed that urban transport projects are progressing well, albeit slow. The completion of the Centralized Traffic Control and the grade separation of 3 Intersection along Western Bypass, that is, the Game City’, Rainbow and BTV Circles as well as improvements of the 40 Intersections associated with Greater Gaborone Traffic Signals Improvements, is expected to transform ease traffic congestion.