05 Mar 2024

A total of 940 civil servants have applied for transfer in different ministries, departments and agencies to join their spouses nationally from 2020 to-date.  

Responding to a question in Parliament on Friday, Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said out of the 940 applications, 592 were approved and 348 were pending due to unavailability of positions.

He said information on the number of married couples in the civil service that stayed within commutable distance and those that stayed within non-commutable distance was not readily available because it was generally not  recorded anywhere in the government  processes.

“Furthermore, the current  transfer guidelines have not defined commutable distance and will be considered during the current policy review,” he said.

Additionally, Mr Morwaeng said the review of the transfer policy was ongoing  as part of the condition of service.

He said the President’s initiative reinforced the provision of Clause 12.3 of the General Orders governing the conditions of service for the public service, which stated that: “In effecting transfers, the  appointing authority should endeavour where practicable not to affect transfers, which have the effect of  separating spouses.”

Bobonong  MP, Mr Taolo Lucas had asked the minister to state the number  of civil servants who had applied for transfer to join their spouses nationally and the number of married couples that stayed within commutable distances. Ends