31 Jul 2018

There are plans to reviewing some policies and regulations  to enhance implementation and service delivery in some government and parastatal organisations.

Addressing public servants in Shakawe recently, Minister of Basic Education, Mr Bagalatia Arone said that was because there seemed to be a clash of regulations and mandate  at some government departments when people needed services.

He also indicated that some of the laws and policies that service providers operated within were outdated hence the need to revise them.

“There is need for laws of the country to talk to each other for better implementation. Some of these laws do not have that rural face. Imagine putting someone on waiting list for many years in small villages such as Gudigwa,” said Mr Arone.

Thus, he encouraged public officers to help government identify such bottlenecks to help achieve its mandate of transforming the country’s economy.

He also said services centralisation and lack of support from departments’ headquarters further contributed to poor service delivery.

Nevertheless, Minister Arone, who is also MP for Okavango, acknowledged the challenges that employees were faced with.

“You are serving in an environment with many challenges. Despite these challenges some of you have been doing their best in serving the community,” he said.

He said employees in rural areas should be different from those in urban areas, adding public servants were under an oath or social contract to serve their communities diligently.   

The area MP also told public officers not to take advantage of the marginalised communities they served and encouraged them to implement the affirmative action programmes that had been put in place by government.

North West district commissioner, Mr Keolopile Leipego said some people did not want to work in Okavango, hence many vacant posts in different departments.

He therefore suggested that incentives designed specifically for such areas be put in place.

On the other hand, Mr Tshenyegelo Bonang, head of department at Shakawe Primary School, appreciated plans by government to revise some of the policies and regulations.

Mr Bonang also encouraged that developments or resources be distributed equitably in the country to address shortage of land in towns.

He also suggested that government introduce institutional housing allowance for other departments, saying that would help address shortage of accommodation for staff because some would want to rent houses of their choice, at the same time getting the allowance. ENDS