19 May 2019

Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Tshekedi Khama has encouraged ministry employees to harness and utilise their talents to work towards the development of the country’s artistic expression and cultural preservation.

Giving a keynote address during the ministry awards held in Gaborone on May 17, Mr Khama said he had noted in the short period at the helm of the ministry that he was leading a team of imaginative and creative people, and expressed hope that the ministry would provide them with a platform to deliver on their mandate.

“In an effort to improve service delivery and respond to the ever changing and increasingly demanding needs of our clientele, the ministry has embarked on a number of initiatives including a review of programmes and policies as well as district support visits for the purpose of providing guidance and sharing best practice,” Mr Khama said.

He said for such initiatives to bear fruit, there was need for willingness to accept change and provide feedback and staff at all times, needed to be the embodiment of its stated values which would contribute to them becoming a high performing organisation.

“The performance of our ministry is embodied in the actions and behaviour of its employees. This is demonstrated on a daily basis in the way we conduct ourselves, apply ourselves and treat our customers. I therefore urge you to live the vision of the ministry at all times and help create an enabling environment that empowers the youth, develops sport and leverages the strength of our culture and heritage,” the minister pleaded.

He further said that in order to enhance the provision of service delivery, the ministry had formed partnerships with the private sector and pledged that they would continue nurturing such collaborations in order to utilise their input in achieving ministry objectives.

However, Minister Khama expressed concern with the situation facing youth and said the ministry was faced with the onerous task of ensuring that they were better empowered to utilise their talents to earn a living and contribute to national development.

“Although the youth make up a greater proportion of our population and many of them possess life skills and talents such as relatively high levels of ICT literacy, as a collective they are struggling. This situation presents a challenge to us as the ministry responsible. We need to render the youth our special support in order to secure the nation’s present opportunities and future prospects,” Mr Khama said.

The ministry assistant minister, Mr Dikgang Makgalemele said the theme of the awards, Employee Recognition - Key to Service Delivery, should be taken into the ministry’s daily activities, so that next year when they held the awards, they would take stock of how far the ministry had implemented such ideals.

He said employees should always strive to implement the ideals of the government’s Ten Point Agenda, which include displaying the qualities of being a people centred civil service which goes an  extra mile to make those who come for services feel welcome.

Mr Makgalemele said that since standards would never be lowered to accommodate anyone, every employee should strive for excellence.

Various employees across all levels were awarded for performing well over the past year, with cleaners getting the Minister’s Special Award. ENDS