15 Dec 2022

Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of government projects will underpin Chapter 10 of the Transitional National Development Plan and subsequent government plans in order to improve delivery and achieve aspirations of National Vision 2036.

Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said this when presenting Chapter 10 of the transitional plan to Parliament on Wednesday.

He said robust monitoring and evaluation of government projects was necessary to improve project implementation and curb costly leakages.

He said poor delivery had undermined the good intentions of well-designed government policies and projects over the years, and as a means to remedy that, National Performance Monitoring and Evaluation policy was developed during NDP 11.

A performance monitoring and evaluation manual has been developed subsequent to this, and an NDP indicator framework was developed to improve policy coordination, accountability and strengthen delivery efficiency, Mr Morwaeng said.

He said the chapter would see the continued use of performance reports, as well as the establishment of transformation offices across ministries to ensure strategic coordination, the integration of national and spatial planning as well as strengthening of project management.

Minister of Transport and Communications, Good Hope/Mabule MP, Mr Eric Molale said the country always had good plans, but implementation was slow and often characterised by lack of supervision.

He said the chapter, therefore, called for the transformation of service delivery to start at village and district level, including the village development committees (VDCs), the basic unit of governance and the village extension teams (VETs) which adviced on implementation.

He said district commissioners should be empowered to be more hands-on in developments, assisted by district officers who would focus on development and another who would gather information and strengthen the VDCs and VETs.

Minister of Finance, Ms Peggy Serame said the planning system in the country was being reformed, including moving national development planning from her ministry to the Ministry for State President to ensure that planning and funding functions were coordinated separately.

She said it was important to hold public officers responsible for project implementation accountable.

The project selection and appraisal system, Ms Serame said, was also key, as well as information on the practicality of the intended development project.

Ms Serame further called for innovative approaches to development planning and implementation to improve operational efficiency. ENDS