BALA Charts New Strategic Plan
Boniface Keakabetse | Monday August 28, 2017 16:51
The formulation exercise started in May and is expected to end in November.
BALA president, Reverend Mpho Moruakgomo told a conference in Maun that the new strategy is underpinned by national, regional and international agendas and agreements.
Moruakgomo explained that the new strategy is guided by the principles of Botswana’s Vision 2036, National Development Plan (NDP) 11, District and Urban Development Plans and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, Paris Climate Agreement and Urban Agenda recently adopted in Quito, Ecuador.
Moruakgomo reiterated that the new plan is guided by the resolution made during the last conference in Francistown, which resolved for localisation of national and global development agenda.
He said, further, it was resolved that local authorities build a strong economic foundation for sustainable development essential for prosperity and addressing communities’ inequalities.
“BALA considers service delivery as a priority in achieving its mandate of better organised and capacitated local governance. The business environment has constantly changed; therefore our strategies have to keep pace with those changes,” he said.
He said: “We need to ensure that human habitats are safe, resilient and sustainable. As local authorities we should leverage on our strategic placement to find ways of creating an enabling environment for local economic development”.
Concerning land, Moruakgomo said local authorities should manage land as a strategic resource to be used for economic advancement of communities.
“Our land management practices cannot continue to ignore the changing socio-economic environment.
“Without speedy land allocation all government programmes intended to promote economic development will be in vain” he said.
According to Moruakgomo also worrying is the recent World Bank ranking of Botswana at position 71 out of 190 countries in doing business, further stating that Botswana rank at positions 153,125,70 and 132 in terms of starting a business, getting electricity, registering property, and enforcing contracts respectively.
He added that: “In terms of rank, we fell by an average of three ranks in all performance indicators. This is despite the celebration of the accomplishment of our vision 2016 and the commencement of vision 2036”.
Officially opening the conference, assistant Minister of Local Government And Rural Development, Botlogile Tshireletso underscored the conference theme, ‘Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Energising Local Economies for sustainable Development’, saying it will better position Botswana to achieve the new development agenda.
Tshireletso said through the NDP 11 government has made commitment to end absolute poverty.
Meanwhile the entire executive committee voted in 2015 in Francistown was reinstated unopposed.