24 Jan 2017

Government will continue to capacitate members of Ntlo ya Dikgosi on areas of need so that they could be efficient in service delivery.

Officiating at capacity building workshop conducted by a team from Botswana Public Service College (BPSC) in Gaborone on Monday, Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Gladys Kokorwe, said this was the third workshop  for dikgosi since 2013, noting that the first was on IT literacy.

Members were guided on the use of the computer which among others included; accessing emails and creating email accounts.

Ms Kokorwe said this was in line with implementation of Parliamen’s ICT Strategy on the initiative of a paperless institution.

Subsequent to this, all members were each given an IPad with which to access internet, receive house business in the form of notice and order papers.

The second workshop, she said, guided members on how to develop a strategic plan in 2014, of which it facilitated members to input into the strategic plan for the National Assembly as a whole which included Ntlo Ya Dikgosi.

This time around, the workshop would focus on protocol and etiquette, meetings and public speaking communication.

Ms Kokorwe said because of the nature of their responsibilities, dikgosi “are custodians of protocol and etiquette in their environment.”

She said because dikgosi were living in a global and diverse village, this necessitated the need to keep up to date on these subjects since they were hosts of every visitor and dignitary in their area of operation across the country.

She noted that dikgosi enjoyed public speaking platforms at among others; kgotla meetings, funerals, weddings, trials, traditional events such as go bolotsa letsema, letlhafula, among others and therefore they should be eloquent enough more especially that they played part in the development of the country and their communities.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Ntlo ya Dikgosi, Kgosi Puso said he was optimistic that this workshop would change the way dikgosi had been conducting their business since they would now be more efficient and effective in service delivery.

Kgosi Puso said dikgosi should be capacitated so that they could communicate with impact particularly that they were leaders who charged with the responsibility of developing the lives of the people.

Kgosi Puso said the way they conducted their business had potential to reflect on the relevance of bogosi in this era and therefore said they should move with positive changes.

Giving a vote of thanks, deputy chairman of the House, Kgosi Malope II said dikgosi always came up with solutions to close gaps that existed in their institution.

He therefore said more of such workshops were needed and therefore called on other higher learning institutions such as BPSC to join hands with them and impart knowledge to dikgosi. ENDS