21 Aug 2017

The Minister of Environment, Natural Resource Conservation and Tourism, Mr Tshekedi Khama says budget constraints have hindered his ministry to deliver on its mandate.

Speaking at his ministry’s 5th annual excellence and distinction awards in Gaborone last Thursday, Mr Khama said the ministry, together with Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO), had won many awards with the most recent being the World Confederation of Business Award Best Entity 2017.

He said the feat was made possible by the efforts of employees in the delivery of the ministry’s mandate.

He also noted that the ministry was one of the ministries that always performed exceptionally well.

The minister added that it had become a culture to recognise those who had done well in playing a positive role in service delivery.

He commended the awardees for being the force behind the success of the ministry, and urged them to continue doing well in their respective tasks.

“As you get your rewards and promotions, do not forget to remain humble to everyone you pass going up because when you come down the ladder, you will find those people there and you will want to engage them with the same respect as when you ascended to that level of promotion,” he advised.

Mr Khama encouraged those who did not get the awards and certificates. He attributed the success behind the ministry to their efforts and urged them to become inspired and motivated to do more so that they could be recognised in future.

Minister Khama noted that the ministry was charged with the responsibility to protect the country’s future.

He added that being the “second engine of the country’s economy,” the ministry boasted of tourism, wildlife and environmental resources which would take over once diamonds ran out.

The ministry’s permanent secretary, Mr Jimmy Opelo said although the objective was to award excellence, it was vital to realise that there was still more that could be done to improve service delivery.

He cited lack of accountability and passion as some of the challenges that needed to be overcome.

He noted that service delivery was time based, and said there was need for a sense of urgency in performance which managers should enforce in their workers and lead them to achieving the ministry’s goals.

The categories for the awards included best performing teams which was awarded to nine teams. They walked away with P1 000 per individual.

There was also an excellence certificate as well as innovation and creativity award where individuals received P2 000 each and a certificate.

The special award handed by the minister was given to individuals who contributed to the overall performance of the ministry. ENDS