03 Jul 2025

Public Officers in Okavango have been encouraged to improve service delivery in order to serve the community better.

Member of Parliament for Okavango West Mr Kenny Kapinga said this when addressing Heads of Department (HODs) in Shakawe on Wednesday.

Mr Kapinga observed that the public deserved excellent service and equal treatment regardless of their social and economic status, saying people of Okavango were economically disadvantaged but deserved fair treatment.

The Member of Parliament said that there was a concern in delay and sub-standard projects.

He therefore, said as supervisors they were supposed to ensure monitoring of projects was done accordingly to guard against compromised quality.

“The public wants to see developments of quality standards and to receive quality services at all times”, he said.

Mr Kapinga said leaders were supposed to ensure their offices adhered to public service standards to for people to receive timely services, which would build a positive image for their departments.

He said leaders should observe government policy on local economic empowerment to ensure people in the district were considered on some jobs that required minimum qualifications.

He added that people of Okavango who had capability in some areas should be prioritised for some tenders in the district before looking for human resource elsewhere.

Mr Kapinga said such jobs and tenders would go a long way to boost the economic status of Okavango community.

When commenting, the HODs decried shortage of staff and office accommodation as a major setback in their welfare while shortage of resources negatively impacted service delivery.

They also complained about challenges of processes, which they said affected service standards, noting supervision of some HODs from Maun in the North West District as well as centralisation of funds at headquarters.

They said some government programmes should take account of the unique challenges of Okavango District and have an exemption for the people of that district.

The other challenge raised was poor infrastructure which made officers reluctant to accept transfers to the district. ENDS