Nthatuoa Koeshe

THE Minister of Local Government and Chieftainship Affairs, Habofanoe Lehana, says there is a still a lot of work to be done in the wake of the successful execution of the recent local government elections by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Speaking at a recent news conference, Mr Lehana said following the provision of the results, the elected councilors will be sworn in while capacity of councils boosted to get them ready for their responsibilities.

“Importantly, each local government council comprise a councilor elected by the people and special council seats for a woman and a chief,” Mr Lehana said.

The ministry has since developed a programme that will guide operations after the elections, a mandate stipulated in the Local Government Act of 1997.

“All community councils started work last Friday while the first sitting of the community councils will be on 30 October, 2017.”

Mr Lehana explained that activities planned for the first seating include the swearing-in ceremony, election of the mayor and the secretary; and the election of district administrators.

“These proceedings will make way to fully-fledged council operations, meaning that councils would have officially started operating,” Mr Lehana said.