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Councils accuse ministry valuer of ‘procurement meddling’

Gaborone City Council.PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO Gaborone City Council.PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Gaborone City Council.PIC MORERI SEJAKGOMO

According to sources, Council Authorities accuse Mengwe of meddling in the tendering processes of councils without any justification. Council authorities are reportedly crying foul that after failing to action valuation of properties since he was seconded from the then Ministry of Lands and Housing back in 2010 to assist with valuation of properties, Mengwe now wants to overstep his authority. Amongst the crimes he is accused of, Mengwe is alleged to have demanded access to tender documentation and contracts entered into with awarded contractors in Gaborone and Francistown. He allegedly managed to get the Francistown tender documents and called on valuation officers to withhold payment of the contractor with a view to cancel the tender. Authorities in Gaborone City Council (GCC) have allegedly thwarted his efforts to meddle with their tenders indicating that he has no authority to do so. “It is very worrisome that we have someone who also owns a valuation company interfering with the work of the Council outside the law. Councils are body corporates and follow set laws and regulations to procure goods and services. There is also an adjudicating body that takes care of everything before the Town Clerk would confirm that all is in order. Now, the Town Clerk is undermined by someone who has no authority and also runs a similar business. It raises eyebrows and worries much that he can call any other officer than the Town Clerk and does not even do that in writing,” a source said.

Rating valuation in Botswana is currently regulated by the newly amended Local Government Act (2012) and the Townships Act of 1955 and regulations of 2019. The Acts require a revaluation to be done every after five years based on the capital value method of valuation.

The current valuation roll for the Gaborone City Council was outsourced in 2008 and implemented for use in 2012. Councils blame Mengwe for the delays accusing him of making them lose millions of pula in uncollected rates. “The valuation roll helps get the City value and what is being gained and how much could be saved. But that never happened. The roll was in the past done by the Ministry of Local Government under the Finance department where Mengwe is attached as a valuer. The Directors working with Mengwe were overseeing the valuation in Councils. For years, the government could not levy proper rates due to failure to develop valuation rolls in Cities and Towns. Since the last valuation, a lot of malls have developed in Gaborone which are not within the roll. Those malls could boost the Gaborone economy and it is unfair that Batswana pay rates but these many big malls are not paying anything,” a source said.

It is said that the government had developed Mengwe’s role for him to develop a newer roll after 2008 but it never happened. It is reported that throughout the years, councils tried to hold meetings with the Finance Department at the Ministry in vain. “It has been back and forth from that end. That is why the government then later decided to give the mandates to councils. The council does not report procurement process to the Ministry. Councils used LAPAAD Act in the past. With the new PPRA Act, the Town Clerk or Council Secretary are empowered to procure at a faster pace. It was an initiative undertaken to unlock value in terms of procurement and to try facilitate Batswana as prompt as possible,” said the source. It is alleged that Mengwe refused to be part of a meeting by GCC to help formulate Invitation to Tender after he had condemned the initial one in 2022. “Later on he comes saying the Director instructed him to be part of the team and that the GCC should bring what they had done. He comes and criticised and told the team to fix. But did not say what to fix. Ramotswa failed and Francistown took GCC document before it was corrected. They went ahead with the tender and are now at draft stage. If it was not for Mengwe, we could be having a roll by now. We have failed Gaborone people and the Government by allowing Mengwe into our stream, which he is not part of by any Act or Regulations of 2019,” the source said. Mengwe is said to have then since the projects started wanted reports from councils while they expected the Director to do so

. “Surprisingly he was into the details of contracts; he wanted the Invitation to Tender and contracts. He was asked to go put what he wanted on writing, but he is yet to do so. But there is nowhere in the Act that gives him powers to supervise council procurement. The council can only give him an update on the expenditure,” said the source. Reached for a comment, Mengwe said as a valuer, he carries out instructions from his superiors at the ministry and referred this publication to his superiors. “I work for a unit that provides oversight to councils. Whatever I do, it is at the instruction of my Director to follow if the council’s money is being well utilised. I, however, cannot field your questions. I would rather you speak to my superiors about my responsibilities,” Mengwe said. Contacted for a comment, Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development said they were not aware of complaints against Mengwe. “The Ministry is not privy to this matter.

However, the Ministry subscribes to the highest standards of professional conduct and expects its personnel to adhere to ethical conduct at all times,” the Ministry’s spokesperson Masego Ramakgati wrote in a brief response to questions from Mmegi. Mmegi had wanted to establish if the ministry ever received such report about the said officer. The publication also sought to understand Mengwe’s role and responsibilities especially towards councils under the current Act and whether he was empowered to call employees and direct them to cancel tenders or withhold payments. The publication also sought to establish why valuations had not been happening under their watch.