19 Jun 2022

 The just-ended four day Cabinet retreat held in Maun has been hailed as a success. The retreat, the first since the introduction of the Reset Agenda, aimed to reflect on the major milestone achieved so far, challenges faced and come up with solutions. 

In an interview on the sideline of the retreat, President Dr Masisi said they had a productive forum, particularly as it attracted advisors, experts and high-ranking public officials to help reflect and brainstorm on the country’s development success and challenges as well as come up with lasting solutions to improve the livelihoods of Batswana. 

Although, he appreciated that they had gone a step further towards the implementation of the Reset Agenda, he emphasised the need to improve on service delivery. “Go supegetse fa re gata sentle, mme hela go na le bonya mo go iseng ditlamelo kwa bathong. 

Re le puso re leka ka bojotlhe go ntsha madi, mme re lemogile fa go na le bonya go dirgatsa se se tshwanetseng,” said President Masisi, meaning service provision was slow despite the government doing its best to avail resources. President Masisi said the Reset Agenda would bring change, hence fine-tuned priorities and implementation approach from the retreat, to ensure tangible results for the nation. President Masisi said the primary purpose of the agenda was to bring broad based change in the country as it called for doing things differently to improve service delivery.

He said the forum allowed them to have a critical look at the Eleventh National Development Plan (NDP11) before they could come up with NDP12, with a view to improving the lives of Batswana. The retreat also identified the need to focus on completing national priority projects.

“We have agreed to redouble our efforts to deliver the promise,” he said. President Masisi also emphasised the need to critically reflect on the devastating effects of COVID-19 and the catastrophic economic recession it caused, with a view to working towards a strong recovery that would benefit all. 

He also promised to tackle other issues such as increased fuel prices, noting that together with his Cabi

net, they would do their best to source funding to cushion Batswana.BOPA