05 Apr 2023

For the first time in the history of Botswana, cabinet ministers have signed performance agreements with the head of state.

The contracts, signed between President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi and his cabinet in Gaborone yesterday,  encompass ministers’ strategic objectives or commitments for the 2023/24 financial year.

The development follows the President’s pronouncement during the inaugural cabinet/accounting officers retreat  last year that performance monitoring instruments would be put in place for the purposes of evaluating achievements and measuring progress.

The contracts are deemed a major reform for performance management expected to  improve public services and ensure that authorities accounted for set objectives.

President Masisi said the performance agreement contained measurable objectives that ministers believed they would achieve within the current financial year.

“It is a yardstick against which you will measure your performance,” he said.

Explaining that the objectives were subject to periodic reviews,  Dr Masisi told ministers that he expected them to exceed the set targets.

Should performance targets be surpassed, more tasks or objectives would be given, he said.

The objectives, the President said, built towards a new culture of improved performance in the public service adding that the trickle down effects would ensure that Batswana were given the utmost service.

President Masisi said he would be maintaining contact with ministers to ensure that together with accounting officers, they delivered on government’s mandate.

The ministers were told that the ministerial budget allocations for the financial year that just commenced should enable them to deliver.

“This is a good starting point, we have just allocated ministries funds for this financial year,” he said.

The 2023/24 budget addresses six national priorities of digital transformation, business environment reform, infrastructure development, value chain development, sustaining livelihoods and climate change.

Totalling P21.1 billion, the development budget’s primary focus is investment in economic and social infrastructure necessary for attainment of high income status by 2036.

On the recurrent side, a total of P60.30 billion has been allocated to ministries covering restructuring and salary arrears among others.

The 2023/24 budget represents the first year of the second Transitional National Development Plan and supports reforms outlined in the Reset and Reclaim Agenda. ENDS