Mukokomani's wish granted as Matenge is transferred

RYDER GABATHUSE & ONALENNA MODIKWA
Staff Writers | Friday May 27, 2011 00:00

It all started on February 23 and Mukokomani, was by then the mayor and by virtue of his position, he chaired an All-party Caucus meeting whereupon a decision was made that the then town clerk, Kutlwano Matenge be transferred. A motion of no confidence in the town clerk was supposed to be passed in an effort to 'fix him'.To Mukokomani's surprise, councillor Dikgakgamatso Ramatlopi rose to introduce an item, which was not previously on the agenda under Standing Order 35. The counter motion tabled ironically wanted to oust Mukokomani from his seat.Mukokomani fought so hard to block a motion purporting to oust him. In the beginning, he seemed to be winning the battle until the matter was taken to the Francistown High Court where his leadership style was exposed and rubbished by the court.

In fact, before the matter was taken to court, Mukokomani was ousted through a disputed election that saw Godfrey Mbaiwa crowned the mayor.

When the court battles ensued in earnest Mukokomani got a temporary reprieve that saw him returned to office pending the court matter.

When the court finally resolved the tussle, Mokokomani lost and the SPTC - led by Matenge had every reason to celebrate because they got rid of a man who gave them a headache and was duly condemned for his tendency to make unilateral decisions.

When Mukokomani's allies in the BDP realised that it was difficult to deal with their man, they decided to enter into a fresh alliance with the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and it worked for them.

This is not the end of the story, as immediately after clearing his desk in the office of the mayor, a week later, Matenge was also ordered to pack and go on transfer to the neighbouring Francistown City Council (FCC) as clerk.This is what Mukokomani had spent his energy on, writing memos to his superiors at the Ministry of Local Government depicting Matenge as a meddler. He found Matenge's stay in Selebi-Phikwe 'unsuitable for the town's development.'

Matenge on the other hand also found Mukokomani a difficult person to deal with as depicted by the affidavits, presented in court.   

In a nutshell, Mukokomani finally celebrated Matenge's transfer outside Selebi-Phikwe as a great achievement although the matter was never debated by the councillors.

It was a well-known fact that the working relationship between Mukokomani and Matenge was so sour that their communication was characterised by the use of correspondences to the parent ministry in Gaborone.

Even during full council sessions it was clear that they differed in the way they understood council procedures to the extent that Mukokomani at some point threatened to throw Matenge out of the council chamber.

The office of the mayor and town clerk openly battled for supremacy and did not create a point where they could meet and settle their differences.

The decision by the Ministry of Local Government to transfer Matenge to Francistown put him under pressure to ensure that the council-mayoral issue is disposed of before he left. Matenge informed the council about his transfer during the last special full council meeting in which Mukokomani walked out in protest at the election of the new mayoral office bearers.

He stated in his farewell address that, 'tranquility reigned even in times when we held different opinions in certain matters'.