19 May 2016

Former public officers who served the nation in different capacities over a range of years look back with pride at the contribution they have made in helping develop this country.

Sharing their experiences in a series of interviews during the inter-district Public Service Day (PSD) commemoration in Masunga on Wednesday, the officers said they had given the nation their best regardless of the unfavourable conditions by then under which they had to discharge their duties.

The Mosojane tribal leader, Kgosi Sibangani Mosojane said he joined the public service as a wildlife scout at the tender age of 18 in 1975, and left 32 years later.

At the time of his departure, he was serving as a District Wildlife Coordinator, he stated.

Kgosi Mosojane said while his highest qualification at the time of joining the employ of government was a Junior School certificate, his passion and desire to progress with his studies paid great dividends as over the years he managed to obtain various higher qualifications among which were a Diploma in Wildlife Management, a Degree in Wildlife Science as well as a Masters in Conservation, Ecology and Planning.

He pointed out that though there were several challenges that the public service  faced with such as a general lack of resources, shortage of manpower, poor road network hampering smooth delivery of services, public officers then had high levels of commitment and resilience; traits that enabled them to consistently deliver high quality services.

Something that he observed was unheard of back then was the worrying trend that he said is prevalent today of public officers being accused of stealing from their employer.

This undesirable development, Kgosi Mosojane opined could be attributed to among others; the desire by some people today to accumulate wealth overnight as well as the large numbers  of public officers; a thing that he said could breed the belief in some employees that it would be easier to evade justice were they to engage in wrongdoing.

A retired army officer, 68 year-old, Lieutenant Colonel Skhosana Letsholathebe of Tsamaya said he served the army for a period of 37 years beginning in 1966.

He said when he left the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) in 2003 he was content with the service he had rendered to the nation.

On how the public service had evolved over the years, Lt Col Letsholathebe expressed concern over the lack of passion by today’s public servants.

He said during their time, public officers were more results-oriented, and were always prepared to do all in their power to give the public service of the highest possible standards.

Similarly highlighting the difficulties that they worked under, he said the situation used to be so bad that a soldier could at times have only one set of uniform.

“Resource limitations were a daily reality. We would at times be expected to provide feeding for ourselves while on work trips. I remember instances where we ran out of food while in Pandamatenga and had no option but to go and ask for sorghum from the villagers to hand-stamp so we could have something to eat,” he elaborated.

On a different matter, Lt Col Letsholathebe said while government had over the years done a lot to protect the interests of public officers, it appeared today that such efforts had been relaxed.

He said the rising dissent among public officers today painted a sad picture with regard to government’s commitment to protect public officers’ rights and interests.

He however said there was a likelihood that even workers’ unions had grown lax on their advocacy for workers’ rights; saying they instead appeared to have grown more political, a development he said could have resulted in them laying aside their main and true mandate.

In the end, Lt Col Letsholathebe lamented what he said was government’s disregard of retired public officers who had left the civil service at a time when salaries were too low.

He said because of their departure before salaries were improved, a lot of such former government employees did not have sufficient funds in their pension schemes and had as a result plunged into destitution.

He called on government to devise strategies to assist such people, saying that would be a way of thanking them for the selflessness with which they had served the nation at the time when the public service was still in its infancy.

Former teachers, Ms Bawilili Gazangeni of Letsholathebe and Mr Kgosiemang Ngwebula of Toteng also indicated that they had had to endure an unpleasant work environment during the public service of the past several years.

Ms Gazangeni said lack of proper accommodation was a real challenge then, but that despite that, they still did their best and managed to produce high-calibre school leavers.

“Re ne re nna mo matlong a mmu, re a dila go sena mo go tweng ke ya gae ka mafelo a beke,” she said; explaining how they used to stay in mud huts which they had to re-plaster for themselves whenever the need arose.

Mr Ngwebula said in the past teaching and learning were faced with several challenges such as shortage of classrooms; something he said had resulted in some classes receiving lessons out in the open.

On the work ethic of today’s public officer, the retired teacher noted that some mindset change was necessary.

He implored public officers to always aim to deliver to the best of their ability despite the concerns they may be having regarding their work conditions.

“When they complain, they should not stop working. When complain while busy working, you stand a far better chance of being listened to,” he noted. ENDS