12 Jun 2018

Low productivity remains a major challenge in Botswana which renders  the country uncompetitive, Vision 2036 chairperson Mr Neo Moroka has said.

“We face challenges of poor service delivery and slow implementation of major government projects resulting in ineffective and inefficient government programmes and eventually poor development,” he said.

Mr Moroka, who was the guest speaker at this year’s public service convention, said poor project implementation had resulted in huge losses of government revenue due to cost overruns and abandonment of projects.

“This denies citizens enjoyment of many services offered by government such as social upliftment programmes and health services,” he said.
He noted that Botswana had not performed well on the ease of doing business ranking 72 out of 189 countries in 2016, down from 38 in 2009 according to the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Report.

 “Factors contributing to this low ranking include inter alia, poor work ethic, government bureaucracy, lack of access to finance and restrictive labour regulations,” said Mr Moroka.

About the public service convention, he said it provided an opportunity for serious introspection where impediments to efficient and effective performance delivery were identified and discussed freely and frankly.

“Let me posit that the attractiveness, competitiveness and hence the success and future of our country lie in the hands of members of the public service. They have a critical role to play in moving this country forward,” he said.

Another speaker, Permanent Secretary to the President Mr Carter Morupisi said the role of public officers is to implement policies and programmes decided by the political leadership which is in turn accountable to the electorate.

He said public officers should support the political leadership whose mandate was to ensure Botswana continued on a path of sustainable improvement of the people’s lives.
Mr Morupisi said it was gratifying that the public service had remained apolitical since independence which had contributed to what the country had achieved in its socio economic trajectory.

“Similarly, this has strengthened our democratic credentials which remain the envy of many across the world,” he said.

Mr Morupisi said he was confident that the public service would stand firmly behind President Mokgweetsi Masisi in his endeavour to propel Botswana to greater heights.

He emphasised the importance of this year’s theme, ‘Delivering Quality Service for Sustainable Development; Key towards Achieving Prosperity for all,’ Mr in view of commitments made in the country’s two guiding documents, Vision 2036 and NDP 11.

To enhance delivery of quality service by public servants, he said, a monitoring and evaluation framework during the implementation of NDP 11 would be applied at all levels of public sector interventions.

Mr Morupisi said monitoring and evaluation capacity would be strengthened for all key stakeholders through a combination of formal and in-house training and capacity building.

He expressed gratitude to all civil servants for the commitment and selfless service to the country.

“Recipients of this year’s Public Service Day awards also deserve our special and heart felt congratulations.

Similarly, my special thanks go to our stakeholders, including the public sector, trade unions and the private sector, who are vital partners in the development of this country,” said Mr Morupisi. Ends