24 Aug 2022

The Office of the President is inundated with complaints of poor service delivery because ministries and sectors are failing to resolve issues.

  Speaking in her engagement with permanent secretaries and their deputies in Gaborone yesterday, Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Ms Emmah Peloetletse said in some cases high level officers were not even aware of such issues.

  PSP also spoke of embarrassing situations in the public service where junior officers issued directives which then had to be reversed.

   Emphasising the need for respecting the chain of command, she said subordinates should be guided by their superiors.

  Ms Peloetletse encouraged high level officers  to practise management by walking about to see and hear  employees’ experiences and offer solutions to any challenges.

  Another area of concern PSP mentioned was delayed response to queries.

  “Even in life threatening situations, people are told to either come tomorrow or next month.  We are failing dismally,” said Ms Peloetletse.

  She said high level officers had set themselves up as bosses and as a result they were feared and inaccessible.

  Public officers, she said, should practise Setswana values such as being hospitable to guests and respectful to elders in their offices.

  Among the policies and legislations that have been put in place to improve the lot of Batswana, Ms Peloetletse mentioned the Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA), Economic Inclusion Act and Public Procurement Act.

   She explained that FIA, especially its money laundering and financing of terrorism components, was primarily aimed at ensuring that Botswana remained in good standing with international organisations it was party to.

  Ms Peloetletse informed her audience that a committee had been set up to ensure Botswana was kept out of the greylist.

  On economic inclusion, she said the  legislation was designed to empower Batswana and grow SMMEs to the level of competitiveness.

  “It is meant to create opportunities for all,” she said.

  The PSP said the aim of the procurement law was to support local companies by buying products and services from them.

 One aspect of the law was that it criminalised fronting, she stated.

 She revealed that a tribunal for resolving procurement-related issues to avoid litigation, a major contributory factor to project implementation, had been established.

   Ms Peloetletse appealed to the high level officers to embrace, understand, interpret and cascade government policies and laws.

  She told them that they were the  country’s ambassadors responsible for protecting its image.

  Every public officer should be in a position to set the record straight when incorrect information was being spread about Botswana, said PSP.

  She called on ministries and sectors to support each other pointing out that Botswana’s campaign to host the Kimberly Process permanent secretariat should not only be a Ministry of Minerals and Energy affair.

  Ms Peloetletse challenged the officers to find ways of pitching in to ensure  Botswana clinched victory.

  Calling on Batswana to stop selling themselves short, she said Botswana subbsribed to almost all international organisations in order to give its citizens opportunities to influence global policies

 On mindset change, she stressed the importance of personal empowerment.

 “For us to empower Batswana, we have to empower ourselves first,” she said. PSP started her public service engagements with trade unions on Tuesday. BOPA