Gaborone mayor takes swipe at government

In his lengthy council address yesterday, Nkgaigwa reiterated his plea to government to return both services of portable and wastewater usage, arguing that there have been serious delivery challenges at Water Utilities Corporation.

“It is dismally failing to deliver. It would be of great benefit to all Batswana to retain the services at local authorities which have been dealing with these issues and doing much better than the Corporation despite its resource advantage,” he said. The mayor further said although Botswana is classified as a middle-income country, this does not reflect on the lives of Batswana as most of them heavily depend on government.  “Our minerals could benefit us better if we review certain agreements we have signed as a country. It is a clear that Botswana produces the largest diamonds by value and quantity globally and this could increase our bargaining power,” he said. He added that the 50/50 partnership with De Beers should be reviewed.