11 Apr 2016

The Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs (MLHA) is mandated to manage civil and national registration, migration and border control, skills development, promotion of gender equality, labour services and others, says the minister of Labour and Home Affairs Mr Edwin Batshu.

Speaking at the MLHA awards ceremony last Friday, Mr Batshu said his staff served even in the remotest and hard to reach areas, with limited resources to ensure that the citizenry enjoyed access to services.

He said the awards ceremony was to acknowledge and reward those who have contributed in ensuring that the ministry achieved its mandate.

He noted that the services delivered by his employees contributed to economic development and in turn the improvement of livelihoods of Batswana.

The minister said it was in that light that the ministry celebrated success and staff’s continued selfless service to the nation in rendering services such as registration of births, deaths, national identity cards, passports, visas, work permits, residence permits and other amenities. “The bulk of MLHA work is law enforcement, hence we ensure and monitor compliance which is made possible by the hard work and dedication of the ministry’s employees leading to the need to award those who deserve.

He said the performance being celebrated was a function of officer’s commitment both in their individual capacity as well as a team. 

He added that in various instances, some officers have gone out of their way and made sacrifices in the spirit of delivering quality service to the customer, thus living the ministry’s values of integrity, Botho and excellence.

Mr Batshu said the delivery mechanism of his ministry did not end in employees alone, but extended to various boards and committees such as the Regional Immigration Selection Board (RIBS), Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF), Citizenship Committee, the Medical Board, Labour Advisory Board and Minimum Wages Advisory Board.

He commended the employees and the different boards for their efforts and contribution in delivering services and making a difference in the lives of citizens. 

He encouraged them to continue working hard and maintaining the team spirit in line with the principle akin to the ministry and work culture.

He said the ministry has under the Economic Stimulus Packages (ESP) embarked on upgrading and automating all its systems to complement efforts made by employees.

The ministry’s permanent secretary, Ms Pearl Matome said when teams play, there was one winner and that people awarded were identified from staff on a transparent bases.

Ms Matome said for an organisation to succeed, it’s all about execution and that when they recognise and award officers for excellence, it was all about their performance. 

She said as they celebrate, they should continue to do better as this was their commitment for the year. Ends