Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)’s, Mr Ofentse Mafoko is chairperson of the newly established Mogoditshane/Thamaga District Council following election to the leadership position through a secret ballot on Monday.
Mmankgodi North councillor, Mr Mafoko, beat Thamaga North councillor Mr Molatedi Selala of Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) by 24 votes to 10 with one councillor abstaining from the voting process.
Mr Mafoko will be deputised by Nkoyaphiri councillor, Mr Bakang Matlho also from BDP after garnering 27 votes against six of UDC’s Oupa Moipolai of Ledumadumane Ward while two councillors abstained from voting.
The voting process comes after an enactment of section 5 as read with section 3 of the Local Government Act published in the Government Gazette December.
That means that the three sub councils that used to be part of Kweneng District Council have now been officially dissolved to give way to three independent district councils being Mogoditshane/Thamaga, Letlhakeng and Kweneng.
Prior to elections and assumption of duty by the newly elected leadership, all the 35 councillors took and subscribed before the council the oath of allegiance.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Mafoko thanked Mogoditshane/Thamaga District councillors for bestowing trust in him to steer the ship once again.
He said the elections were such an important occasion in the history of Botswana.
He said the turn of events meant that the district, comprising 12 villages, was no longer under delegated powers.
“Once we make decisions in our district, they will be final without seeking any approval at a higher authority like we used to do,” he said.
Mr Mafoko was quick to state some of his priorities, among them, to ensure that a committee was elected soon to look into standing orders that would lay down procedures in the running of the day to day activities of the district council.
He also stated that another committee would be appointed to look into the transfer of assets and liabilities from the former council to the established councils, in which case, assets that belonged to former Kweneng District Council would be shared among the three established councils.
He further said among his top priorities was to divide the education, health and social committee into two so that they functioned efficiently.
For his part, deputy district council chairperson, Mr Matlho congratulated the chairperson for his new role.
He informed the councillors that the establishment of the new district council meant that they had to quickly move speedily to make sure that people accessed services.
He said the district was one of the most populated in the country and that on its own, presented unique challenges.
He, therefore, called on the councillors to work as one and support one another to deliver on the council’s mandate. ENDS
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