Councillors from urban and rural councils in Leribe district have gone for five months without receiving their monthly sitting allowances because the government has no money to pay them.
The councillors, who get a paltry M200 each per month for sitting allowances say this has caused them untold suffering and curtails their efforts to discharge their duties.
They told theReporter in separate interviews this week that they have only been paid sitting allowances for four months and others three months since their swearing in on November 15 last year.
They said they were only paid M400 for two months last Friday, meaning they are now owed a total of M1400 each.
“This is a huge amount, considering that we receive very little,” one councillor said on condition of anonymity. Councillors also receive M4,500 monthly allowance each, in addition to the M200 sitting allowance.
The councillors’ meagre monthly sitting allowances are in sharp contrast to members of parliament’s (MP) M150 daily allowances. The councillors meet twice a month while MPs assemble almost every day during parliamentary sittings.
The disgruntled councillors said the persistent delays in disbursing their sitting allowances was causing them immense inconvenience as most of them are unable to travel for council and committee sittings.
The past months have been torrid for them as they could also not afford to look after their families, they complained.
A councillor from Nqechane told this publication that he is struggling to cover his basic expenses like lunch and transport to attend council sittings.
He said councils do not have vehicles, further worsening their plight and hindering their work.
“We are only getting monthly allowances, not salaries. In order to attend meetings including for the council and committee, we are forced to use our M200 sitting allowances for transportation because we don’t have vehicles provided by the council.
“This has put a strain on our finances and made it difficult for us to fulfil our responsibilities as community councillors,” he explained in a telephonic interview on Monday this week.
A councillor in Bolahla community council, Molefi Mosuoane, said they were informed that the payment delays were due to lack of enough funds because Leribe district has the highest number of councillors in the country.
Councils are reportedly allocated the same amounts irrespective of the size and the number of councillors they have.
“It is disheartening to be told that our council is the largest in the country hence the allowances are not enough. We must be seen to be promoting development and ensuring that people get services, but all this cannot be achieved because some of us have to travel long distances yet we can’t afford it,” he noted.
He added: “The sitting allowance is not just a symbolic gesture. It helps us to carry out our duties to the best of our abilities. Without it, we cannot afford transport to meetings or meet the basic needs of our families. We are being pushed to breaking point.”
Richard Mosehle from Manka Community Council said they have received sitting allowances only for three months since they were sworn in.
They were still owed M1600 each, he indicated.
Mosehle said he suspected that the current Leribe District Council Secretary (DCS)’s office might be the source of the problem.
“The explanation that we’ve been given that Leribe has more councils and that all councils are allocated the same budgets regardless of the number of councillors does not make sense to us, this is unprecedented.
“The councils have been in place for years and we have never experienced such a delay in receiving our sitting allowances. We need to understand why this is happening and how it will be resolved.
“I believe the DCS is the source of the problem because we have had reports that other councillors received their allowances without delays. This suggests that the issue is unique to our district and needs to be addressed immediately,” Mosehle pointed out.
Investigations by theReporter revealed that councillors in Maseru district are not faring any better as they are still owed outstanding sitting allowances for three months.
In response, Leribe DCS Tšolo Thabana denied the councillors’ allegations that his office was responsible for the delays in paying out the allowances.
In an interview on Wednesday this week, Thabana said the councillors’ dues have only been delayed by five months.
He stated that Leribe has the highest number of councils, with 13, hence the district’s budget was insufficient leading to constant delays in payments.
“All councils countrywide are allocated equal amounts and the budget is insufficient for Leribe, making it difficult to meet payments deadlines,” he noted.
He stated that local councillors were paid sitting allowance for April and May, and therefore only those for June to October were outstanding.
“We make every effort to communicate with the councillors through their chairpersons as well as the urban councillors through their clerks, to ensure that they are aware of any delays or challenges affecting the payment of their allowances,” Thabana said.
“In comparison to other districts, Leribe has more councils, which makes it challenging to distribute the budget equally among all other councillors. As a result, we are not able to meet the payment deadlines for all allowances at once,” he further explained, adding that other districts with fewer councils may be able to pay all allowances promptly, unlike Leribe.
Thabana added that delays in payments were beyond his office as they pay allowances based on the warrant issued by the finance committee responsible for determining payments dates.
In cases where the Leribe district council falls behind, he said, they write to the ministry of local government requesting funds for payment.
“Sometime we receive timely responses, while other times there are delays. However, we are doing our best to address the issue as quickly as possible,” Thabana indicated.
Contacted for comment this week, information officer in the ministry of local government, chieftainship, Mothusi Ramotšabi, said delays in sitting allowance payments were due to budgetary constraints.
“We are not intentionally underfunding the councillors, but we are constrained by limited resources available,” Ramotšabi noted, adding that the ministry regrets that the councillors are being affected by this situation.
“We always try to ensure the best use of the funds we have so essential functions of government are carried out.”
The councillors’ plight is a far cry from prime minister Sam Matekane’s commitment to boost decentralisation of services.
Matekane has in the past pledged that his administration will provide resources for local government so that it can effectively executive its roles and responsibilities as part of efforts to boost decentralisation of services. While the government has done commendably well by building offices for some councils across the country, increasing councillors’ monthly sitting allowances and their timeous disbursement is also crucial in this crusade.
