16 Mar 2015

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama has urged civil servants to put the nation first and to serve wholeheartedly with the little resources they have.

While President Khama appreciated the challenges that dogged the public service, he said it was a shame to hear communities complaining during kgotla meetings about poor service delivery in government offices. 

He assured the employees that efforts were being made to improve their conditions of service. President Khama was commenting after some residents of Shorobe had complained about poor service in some government offices such as the Department of Social  and Community Development (S&CD). 

Residents said orphans and destitute persons were denied assistance as social workers were either out of the office or they refered customers to get help from Maun, kilometres away. President Khama urged employees to disciplined and strive for excellence in service delivery. 

The director of the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM), Ms Ruth Maporisa appealed to supervisors and heads of departments to lead by example.

She added that it was the public expectation to be served satisfactory, adding that as extension workers, they formed part of the community within which they operate. He advised them to be visible and to understand the needs and concerns of the community they serve. 

She said there was a need to promote a new focus and emphasis on performance and results with a singular aim of quality service delivery and satisfaction of the public they serve.

Ms Maphorisa noted that the Public Service Charter emphasises the need to serve the public timeously with Botho and advised civil servants to put the interests of the community first.

Meanwhile, Shorobe Village Development Committee chairperson, Mr Baleseng Gwanga complained that some public servants owed the VDC rentals over P18 000. 

He also complained about the shortage of doctors, agricultural demonstrators and veterinarians in their village.

In response, Ms Maphorisa said it was against the Public Service Charter to fail to pay rent. She said civil servants should be assisting VDCs to come up with mechanism to collect their owed monies.

She said failing to pay rent amounts to misconduct for which an employee could be punished.

On the issue of shortage of doctors, President Khama said the country was finding it difficult to recruit doctors as they did not want to work in rural areas.

He acknowledged that the shortage of doctors retarded service delivery to patients. He said efforts were being made to recruit doctors, but noted that  they resigned within a short time.

He said the government would continue with its recruitment drive to rectify the situation, noting that even the shortage of nurses was a concern. 

Ms Chalebwa Nfila from the Ministry of Health explained that Ngamiland had eight clusters operating with three doctors. She said doctors from Shorobe, Sehithwa and Tsau had resigned.

She said some doctors were employed in December but never reported for duty.

Ms Nfila admitted that they had failed to visit some areas in the delta for some months because of shortage of transport, but assured residents that the ministry had now secured suitable vehicles.

She acknowledged that the areas had big populations which needed to be provided with health services on a regular bases. ENDS