Do not be timid: Decentralise CDC

Editor | Friday January 15, 2010 00:00

A district council that covers 17 constituencies and houses 174 councillors at the Serowe Chambers is the very definition of unwieldy.

No one expects the 174 councillors to meaningfully contribute to debates in the council chambers when there is limited time and all of them clamouring to be heard within the limited time. The result is that many councillors, as it has been evident over the years, are deprived of the chance to have a say and hence articulate the development needs of the people they  represent. In the end it is the communities that these councillors represent that find themselves at the rough end of the stick.This is one of the few district councils in country that bring at every sitting a councillor in from Mookane in South Central and another one from Maitengwe to the North. This is at a great cost to the tax payer considering that majority of these councillors never even get an opportunity to discuss development issues of the council on the floor of the council after travelling long distances from their areas.

It still remains a mystery why this council cannot be sub divided into more manageable districts that will effectively serve the public better. Of course the stumbling block just has to be the tribal egos -  that to do so will tamper with the tribal authority of the high and famous at the Central District headquarters. There have been commissions after commissions, the last comprehensive one being a commission that was led by Pelonomi Venson(Moitoi), to look into the issue of council decentralisation. Recently we are seeing some half hearted attempts in a bid to address the unwieldy situation at the councils. 

The Central District Council, in particular, has with effect from December 2009 been replaced under some more manageable sub districts of Serowe, Palapye, Mahalapye,Bobirwa,Tutume and Tonota. Councillors from these sub-districts will now be meeting in the sub-districts to discuss issues in a more manageable set up. Other than setting these as sub districts,  government should just take the plunge and turn this into full districts. It is economical and it is sensible to do so. At the moment we understand that the chairperson and their deputies will not be remunerated for carrying out these functions. This is a huge mistake. Everything possible should be done to move towards full autonomy.  We are aware that this tentative decentralisation is happening right across the country, in our opinion though, the Central district does not need the sub district arrangement anymore. In this era of efficiency decentralisation is the way to go. To the opponents of decentralisation who feel that it threatens their tribal power let it be known that the administrative and political shifting of the boundaries will not affect the tribal authority of their powerful chiefs as enshrined in the Tribal Territories Act.

 

                                             Today's thought
'Find ways to decentralise.  Move decision making authority down and out. Encourage a more entrepreneurial approach.'

                                          - Donald Rumsfeld quotes