29 Mar 2015

The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Eric Molale, has urged public servants in Otse and surrounding villages to work harder in assisting communities in their respective areas.

Addressing public servants at Otse in the Shoshong constituency on March 26, Mr Molale reminded them that they were part of government and they should ensure that they assisted people effectively.

He said as public officers in remote areas, they should know that it was their responsibility to stand out and make sure that they serve people they work for accordingly. He explained that though they are faced with many challenges which somehow make their jobs difficult, they should strive for excellence as the people are depending on them, adding that they should carry out government initiatives without fail.

He said they should not be discouraged by the challenges they face but their morale should rather be boasted by assisting Batswana in benefiting from whatever  government is offering, be it education, poverty eradication initiatives and many more.

Mr Molale encouraged them to have aims similar to that of government as they were there to educate and develop people’s lives in remote areas. He said government is aware that most public officers are faced with several challenges but they have to work past them so that people benefit from their services.

"Always try harder and leave this world a little better than when you found it, we need to make a difference in these people’s lives so that when we look back we feel proud," he said.

The Minister urged public servant to take their work seriously and as part of government they should be good stewards who have the interest of people at heart. He noted that they play a vital role in the society as they are there to implement the mandate of government.

On other issues, Mr Molale applauded the staff for working in areas such as Otse which are considered to be "remote" adding his trip was also aimed at interacting with them and get exposed to their working conditions.

He said it is important for him as their minister to always visit outstations in order to strengthen team work and boast staff morale. For her part, the headmaster of Sethomo Primary School, Ms Margaret Keitumetse said her school has about 686 students from Otse and surrounding settlements with 52 staff members as the school also has a boarding wing.

She said they try by all means to work under numerous challenges which include amongst others shortage of staff houses and shortage of classrooms. Ms Keitumetse said they are glad that government is doing whatever it can to help them because those teachers who rent in the village stay in houses which are not electrified.

On issues of performance, Ms Keitumetse said the performance of her school is below par because they have a serious problem of language barrier. Therefore, she pleaded with government to consider sending teachers to learn some indigenous languages. ENDS