11 Dec 2022

Permanent Secretary to the President has  called for prudent spending of government funds and utilisation of resources.

Addressing public officers in Tsabong on Thursday, Ms Emma Peloetletse said procurement and supplies officers must employ cost effective ways of buying public goods and services.

Procuring of items at exorbitant prices must come to an end, she said.

On project implementation, PSP expressed concern about the high rate of tender-related litigation revealing that the new procurement law was meant to address the situation.The instrument, she said, would ensure consistency across government and that all contracts went through Attorney General’s Chambers  for cross checking.

“Public funds were lost, we noticed that in some contracts, the defect liability period were not consummate with the project value. We want to ensure good quality project delivery,” she said.

Urging them to guard against corruption, Ms Peloetletse said her office had received complaints that some officers indirectly forced customers to engage in corrupt practices out of desperation.

She advised them to employ a customer centric approach to effectively deliver services to the people and that they should have clear processes and procedures.

Saying government sought to digitise and become paperless,  she called on civil servants to embrace the 4th Industrial Revolution and cascade it down to their subordinates.

Ms Peloetletse said it was critical to provide the relevant workforce with the necessary gadgets to facilitate smart working.

“In terms of scale of issue, these gadgets are not a preserve for a select few, permanent secretaries should look at the kind of jobs that you do and provide gadgets to facilitate you to effectively do your job,” she said to thunderous  applause.

Turning to the issue of grey listing, Ms Peloetletse said Botswana was sanctioned for porous financial laws and had since put new legislation in place in order to comply with international best practices. 

“They set new standards every now and then hence the need for us to consistently make laws to meet the standards,” she said.

 PSP said Botswana recently signed the East and Southern Anti-Money Laundering Group and acquired membership of the Financial Action Task Force responsible for investigating money laundering and financing terrorism practices.

She informed her audience that the Financial Intelligence Act was also recently reviewed.

Updating them on the rationalisation exercise, she said the aim was to draw a human resource winning structure.

“The reason was to bring together related services so that we create synergies for unity of purpose. The ecosystem of any service must be offered by a particular ministry to improve efficiencies and impact,” she said.She encouraged public service leaders to be innovative and employ creativity in service delivery revealing that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi would  soon launch a mindset change campaign.

Ministry for State President permanent secretary, Ms Goitsemang Morekisi said the engagement was part of  PSP’s tour designed to resuscitate, touch base and regroup in the aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic. 

In her closing remarks, Department of Public Service Management director, Ms Gaone Macholo encouraged public servants to be alive to the Reset Agenda priorities. ENDS