11 Dec 2022

Avoiding a return to the greylist means working together and making sure that Batswana understand the meaning of compliance.

This was said by Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Ms Emmah Peloetletse during a public servants engagement  in Serowe recently.

Ms Peloetletse said government had to ensure that standards were understood and domesticated into the country’s laws. 

She said Botswana should sustain itself and comply with the standards set by institutions it was party to.The standards were reviewed periodically and therefore the country had to ensure it was always up to date to avoid being in the wrong, said PSP.

Ms Peloetletse said even though Botswana had been taken off the greylist, getting out of being grey-listed was not an event but a process.

She said recently, Parliament passed eight laws one of them being the Financial Intelligence Act.

Promulgation of the new laws would result in further compliance, she said adding that government would ensure implementation of the legislations.

On the issue of rationalisation of government portfolios, Ms Peloetletse said it was necessitated by the need to bring together related services, create synergies and consolidate ministry effectiveness.She said the exercise was complete and ministries had been given their structures. 

As part of the process, a new structure had been created within Office of the President called the National Planning Commission.

Ms Peloetletse called on public servants to familiarise themselves with government policies adding that they should have the capacity to interpret them.

  She said they should be able to cascade such policies to their subordinates and to the public.

PSP also encouraged her charges to always give government feedback on the implementation of the policies.

Describing public officers as gorvernment’s ambassadors, she pleaded with them to defend  government  policies. 

“These policies are generated by us with the hope that they will actually be able to transform the lives of Batswana out there”, she said. ENDS