JTC takes full council debates to the public

Lebogang Baingapi | Monday June 8, 2015 14:39

When tabling a motion, concillor for Seole ward, Obed Monkge said the move will enable the voters to come in large numbers and judge if their representatives are doing what they are sent to do. Monkge’s motion seeks to force the council to do such once in a financial year.

Councillor Bankinyana Montsiemang of Ngami ward agreed, stating that the full council is always attended by the same faces who are generally heads of department. He said the move will enrich democracy and will also be part of taking services delivery to the people. Montsiemang added that if full council could start in the evening, it would give civil servants an opportunity to attend, arguing that democracy is expensive and can best be won through public engagement.

Specially elected councillor, Benjamin Bakwena, however, opposed the motion saying, taking council to public places  does not guarantee satisfactory attendance as people of Jwaneng do not even turn up for kgotla meetings when invited. He said the motion should not be considered, but rather be taken as a comment.

After councillor Ronicah Ntsimako of Molopo ward gave the motion a thumbs up, Bakwena and another specially elected councillor Olga Ditsie, again opposed the motion and called on the sitting to take the full council out first before amending standing orders as a way of testing the waters.

Three councillors from the Unbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) supported the motion while the same number of Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councillors opposed it. The mayor, Tsietsi Oodira Kwenje supported and passed the motion, stating that the move will give voters a clear picture of what their representative are doing.

The mayor’s executive committee will propose the public place and will be agreed by the house.