13 Jul 2017

Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama has informed Parliament that the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) derived its mandate from Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act Cap 38:01.

He said Section 3(1) of the above Act provides that ‘’there shall be designated public officers to be the Director of Wildlife and National Parks, and there shall be within the public service such wildlife officers as are necessary for the purposes of the Act.

He said determining officers’ necessary for the purpose of this Act is an operational responsibility of the director, and at times the minister to enhance the efficiency of the department in carrying out its mandate.

Mr Khama said some of the necessary assignments have been identified such as intelligence, anti-poaching, park management, transport, research and project implementation amongst others; hence the establishment of the units for the purpose.

He said this may change from time to time. He further said the Department of Wildlife and National Parks is not part of intelligence community.

He was answering Selebi Phikwe West, MP, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse, who had asked the minister to state when the intelligence unit in his ministry was established and the legal authority that established it. 

He also wanted to know why it was established and the empirical assessment that informed its establishment, its functions, and whether the unit was part of the intelligence community and mechanisms for parliamentary oversight of the unit

Meanwhile, Minister Khama also informed Parliament that three employees have reached compulsory retirement age in 2017/18 at the ministry.

He said there will be 33 employees who will reach compulsory retirement age in 2018/2019 in the ministry.

He said the ministry was currently developing succession plan through the assistance of DPSM.

However, the current approach to succession on technical posts is such that officers continuously undergo review and taken through Competency Based Interview (CBI) to identify a suitable candidate for D-band. He said technical C-band posts are multi-titled, hence progression is performance based.

Mr Khama further said there are two technical posts which will be created by retiring employees in the ministry during the financial year 2017/18.

Specially elected MP, Mr Mephato Reatile had asked the minister to state the number of employees who reach compulsory retirement age in the financial year 2017/18.

He also wanted to know the number of those who will reach compulsory retirement age in the financial year 2018/19 and whether the ministry has made arrangements for succession with regard to those who held technical posts. ENDs