20 Aug 2013

Kasane-based Tulyiwonde, has emerged victorious after beating 11 other teams in the just ended northern region work improvement teams (WITS convention.

The second position went to Maun's Yarona team while Sedzembuya from Francistown settled for the third place. The nine-member Tulyiwonde team from Chobe District Council win comes after another team from the same district triumphed last year.

Tulyiwonde, which means unity in Sesubiya, comprised of human resource and administration personnel. Their their project addressed malfunctioning of Information Technology (IT) equipment and improving IT use for effective business operations.

In an interview, the acting team leader, Ms Kebame Poifo said the objective of the project was to minimise virus infections as well as raise awareness on computer literacy and management.

Some of the solutions the groups came up with were printing stickers and placing them on computers to raise awareness on proper computer use. Management, she said, had been supportive especially, the council secretary (CS).

The strategy management coordinator in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Tshenolo Omphithetse said the ministry was happy with the outcomes of performance improvement tools such as WITS.

“Some public servants feel that we are introducing way too many of these tools and they do not know which one to use and which one to leave out, but the truth of the matter is that these programmes complement each other, the introduction of one does not mean we abandon the rest,” she explained.

Ms Omphithetse added that the only challenge was that people often used the wrong tools to solve problems, something he said had created confusion. She said in such competitions, some people would pitch a perfect idea just for the sake of winning and then never implement it.

Ms Omphithetse commended the northern region for doing exceptionally well in WITS, dominating nationally in such platforms as the public service conventions.

This convention saw teams from as far as Ghanzi, Sowa Town, Selebi Phikwe, North East, North West and Chobe competing against each other in preparation for the national WITS competitions. ENDS