The outspoken Assistant Minister has been addressing civil servants across the country, to hear their grievances about poor working conditions.
Mfa said he felt he should address the public officers because he had realised that they have no forum where they could air their views.
He feels that public officers should be taken on board if the Performance Management System (PMS) is to become effective. His meetings, he said, have taken him all over the country even to the remotest areas. He will be addressing his last meeting in Gaborone on Friday.
Mfa confesses that his fact-finding mission is an eye opener. He said he has unearthed many things about the difficult conditions that public officers worked under, especially in the rural areas. Some of those problems are lack of accommodation and overstay in one station without transfer. He said some of the officers have served in the rural areas for up to 15 years.
He observed that in some cases, supervisors used transfers to punish junior officers. The Assistant Minister said he has instructed the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) to draft transfer guidelines. He said promotions are done irregularly and he will look into this matter to see if government could come up with a system that could avoid favouritism.
“Some of the promotions leave much to be desired. We have supervisors who have been given responsibilities but they are failing to perform,” he said.
Mfa added that the relationship between some supervisors and junior officers is strained. “There are some supervisors who frustrate their juniors, therefore making them unproductive at work,” he said.
He applauded some officers for good service even when they are working under difficult conditions.
“My view is that the minister responsible for the public service should make it a habit to visit civil servants at least every second year,” he said adding that he is not happy about the performance of senior civil servants. He asserted that all the senior public officers should be political appointees. He believes there are some senior civil servants who deliberately sabotage government efforts because they belong to the opposition.
“I am saying this out of frustration. Government projects are sabotaged by some senior officers. If I had my way, I would appoint senior officers along political party lines. If they are political appointees, they would be well aware that if the ruling party loses elections, then they are all going to sink. But in this current set up, the officers are well aware that if we lose elections, they would serve the next government. I feel the civil service needs a major shake-up so that those who are not competent should be off loaded.”
He lamented that there are some public officers who are not interested in serving the public.
“We still have old age pensioners who are not paid in time. We still have materials for drought relief projects which are not delivered in time.”
He added that there are some senior officers who do not know what is happening in their departments.
Mfa also expressed concern about some officers who issue contractors with certificates of payments when they have not completed projects. “This is why we have so many unfinished structures that have been lying around for a long time.”
The acting President of the Botswana Civil Service Association (BCSA), Phineas Pheto commended Mfa for his efforts. He said Mfa consulted BCSA last year before he went on the tour. Pheto said they hope the meetings Mfa addressed would yield positive results. He said this was the first time that a cabinet minister had toured the country extensively to address civil servants.
