Councillors expressed their concerns at a special full council meeting that was held last week to discuss the report on the Auditor General on Francistown accounts for the year ending March 31, 2009. Finance Committee chairperson Raoboy Mpuang said that the audit showed the council was over-spending by more than 10 percent; that most of the council assets were in debt and that some projects were reported as complete when they were not. The report is supposed to pass through the council for debate before adoption so that it can be sent to the Local Authorities Public Accounts Committee (LAPAC).
Councillor Steven Michael wondered how projects can be reported as complete when that is not the case and no action is taken against the guilty officers. "These are cases of deliberately misleading the council and the people. It shows that the officer does not take the job, the council, the government or the people seriously," he said.He added that he also did not understand how the council ended up overspending because consultations were done before projects and the council knew the projected costs."It is not fair because councillors and officers are supposed to work as a team," he said.
