FCC yet to suspend alleged corrupt officers, deputy mayor
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday June 24, 2016 16:42
City deputy mayor Lechedzani Modenga and an undisclosed number of the Francistown City Council (FCC) employees were recently caught by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) investigators for reportedly dealing on illegal sales of Self Help Housing Agency (SHHA) plots.
FCC clerk Leboile Israel recently listed amongst others, the illegal sale of SHHA plots as a corruption red-zone in his council. The information and communications technology, transport, social and community development (S&CD) and the allocation of the SHHA plots are some of the departments prone to corruption.
Israel and his team at the FCC have attributed their success in combating corruption to educating the council staff and the community on reportable cases.
Mmegi is privy to information that the DCEC recently requested the FCC senior management to institute a comprehensive audit to establish the extent of the alleged corrupt practice at the municipality.
It therefore, means that the findings of the audit will reveal the actual extent of the damage occasioned by corrupt officials at the municipality.
There is fear that if the alleged suspects are allowed to access their offices, files and computers, vital information could vanish from the council systems.
This is so because untested information from the FCC sources show that it has been possible to walk into the FCC premises and speak to ‘connected people’ over the counter to elevate one’s application for SHHA plot from the lower end of the waiting list to the top for an undisclosed fee.
There are also allegations that one’s levy debt could just disappear from the system without a trace and this is levied into people’s pockets.
The DCEC’s crackdown on a suspected syndicate of corrupt officers at the FCC may prove hollow as some implicated officers may destroy possible evidence.
Preliminary information suggests that the illegal dealing of land in the FCC involved officers of decision-making positions and not ordinary junior officers. A newly instituted civil proceedings against the deputy mayor by two people show that last year, Modenga offered sale of two plots to two unsuspecting people in the lawful execution of his duties as the deputy mayor.
Dorcas Pony Tshambane and Thale Majoo are some of the disappointed people whose promises of buying land from Modenga turned into frustration as their endeavours to get their land after paying P160,000 and P85,000 respectively turned into a nightmare.
Recently the duo decided to sue Modenga to recover their money after what they termed, “unfulfilled promises.” City mayor, Sylvia Muzila told Mmegi this week that since DCEC investigations are still ongoing, it might be too early to think of suspensions from duty for both the deputy mayor and council employees.
“They (DCEC) are still investigating and there is nothing yet they can base possible suspensions on,” said Muzila in an interview. Israel could not shed light on expected suspensions of the council staff implicated in corruption.
“I have been out of town for a while and I will only be back to the office today (Friday) whereupon we will be able to shed more light,” he said yesterday before hanging up. Quizzed about possible action on the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) councillor Modenga as he is implicated in corruption, BDP secretary general Botsalo Ntuane treated the whole affair as simply newspaper rumour. “We just saw a story and cannot attest to its veracity whether what we hear is just rumour or fact. Let’s see how things develop around the allegations before we say anything as a party,” Ntuane said this week.
Meanwhile, assistant minister of local government and rural development, Botlogile Tshireletso has conceded that all the time when assessments are made, the councils always lead in corruption matters.
She encouraged the DCEC to do a lot of work especially with tendering processes, as this is the area that was still worrisome.
She said recently, at one council, the adjudication committee had to cancel and recommend that tenders be re-issued after it was found out that one company had won 25 out of 30 tenders issued. “Whilst a lot is being done to combat crime, there are still areas of concern,” said Tshireletso who stressed that robust education and strengthening of anti-corruption units at the workplaces can help reverse the situation.