21/05/2026
Leadership Capacitation for Local Structures
Distinguished guests, community leaders, stakeholders, ladies and gentlemen,
I stand before you today to raise a concern that continues to affect many of our local structures and community organisations. While these structures were established to serve communities and drive development, many are experiencing internal collapse, conflict, and ineffective functioning.
One of the major contributing factors is the lack of leadership capacitation. Many leaders take up responsibilities with passion and commitment, but without adequate training and development in leadership skills, governance, conflict resolution, organisational management, and strategic planning.
As a result, we often witness poor decision-making, internal disputes, lack of accountability, and delays in service delivery. This weakens public confidence and limits the impact these structures can have within our communities.
Therefore, I would like to propose the introduction and strengthening of leadership development programmes for local leaders. These programmes should focus on leadership skills, mediation, communication, governance, financial management, and community development.
Capacitated leaders create stronger institutions. Strong institutions create empowered communities. By investing in leadership development today, we are investing in sustainable community growth and effective local governance for tomorrow.
Let us prioritise empowering our leaders so that they can effectively lead, serve, and transform our communities.
I thank you.
