Gov’t appointments fuse Reset Agenda
Ryder Gabathuse | Monday September 18, 2023 06:00
The President Masisi-led government has seemingly been worried about the performance of certain departments and ministries to the extent that in the past there was a strong feeling that the public service was awash with some individuals hell-bent on sabotaging the current government. That could have been the reason the current regime went on a purging of certain senior public officers believed to be loyal to the regime of former president Ian Khama.
The appointments are certainly an attempt to align the Botswana government machinery to the presidential transformational agenda. In fact, officers who serve at the highest level serve at the pleasure of the sitting President. There must have been a feeling at the highest office in the land that the civil service is not supportive of the government’s transformational agenda, hence a shake-up.
Thato Yaone Raphaka
His appointment on promotion as Permanent Secretary, Office of the Vice President from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism comes at the right time in his illustrious career in the civil service. The man understands government policies like the back of his hand and as such he will be very helpful at the office of the VP.
Slumber Tsogwane, the VP, will profit immensely from the direction of Raphaka, especially at a time when his principal, President Masisi has spoken that he was ready to hand the baton of power to his lieutenant when his constitutional two five-year terms come to an end in 2028.
The appointment of Raphaka to the office of the VP is a motion of confidence on Tsogwane by Masisi. He is trying to ensure that he (Tsogwane) receives proper guidance from an accomplished civil servant of Raphaka’s calibre before he possibly ascends to the highest office in the land. To many people, Raphaka has all the qualities to be even a Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP). He has the wherewithal to run the office effectively. Through this particular choice, Masisi is speaking a lot not only to his deputy, he is also talking to Raphaka that he is destined for greater things in the civil service.
Raphaka is a well-rounded civil servant and is known to be results-oriented and does not condone failure. Those who have worked closely with him indicate that he was fond of reminding people that he is the CEO of the Ministry as the PS. He reportedly has a tendency to remind those who cared to listen that if people have concerns about his officers, he should be the first point of call. He reportedly abhors ministers who choose to raise concerns directly to his staff without his knowledge.
He is basically described as institutional memory for his expansive knowledge of the public service and its tasks. He is particularly gifted in terms of crafting Cabinet Memos. Those who know him better indicate that he does not mind returning a poorly crafted Cabinet Memo to some of his senior officers 12 times until a properly written Cabinet Memo is submitted for his approval. In the process, he has reportedly trained a lot of people on how to craft such Memos.
Raphaka is credited for his thorough knowledge of rural development and he might assist the office of the VP with pertinent information on development dynamics in the rural areas. He has worked amongst others with veteran politicians like former Cabinet ministers Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi and Margaret Nasha.
Montlenyane Baaitse
She is a communications guru who is currently the corporate affairs manager at the Debswana Jwaneng Mine. She has been responsible for leading the communications strategy of the Debswana Jwaneng Mine. Her docket includes social performance and building strong relations with communities, private institutions and government. She has been at Jwaneng for the past nine years.
The government has reportedly headhunted her from her comfort zone. She is seen as the right person for the job at the government enclave and she would have to hit the ground running in an endeavour to bring stability to a somewhat ailing government communications machinery, which amongst others, recruits and supervises public relations officers and generally monitors and effects communications within the government set up. Baaitse, however, has a mammoth task to stabilise the office of government communications to run effectively. There is a worry that coming from the private sector, the government might find itself having to deal with ‘pay structure issues’ to accommodate her.
Baaitse was one of the longest-serving broadcasters at the mass media complex where she was editor, newsreader and producer in the Department of Broadcasting Services. She would later in her career rise to become Head of News and Current Affairs at Botswana Television.
Ahead of the 2009 General Election, Baaitse was transferred to the Ministry of Trade in 2008 as Head of Public Relations before she joined PEEPA (Public Enterprises Evaluation and Privatisation Agency) as Head of Communications. This transfer means talent was put to waste by the previous regime headed by former president Ian Khama for reasons best to them. She is, however, now returning to the zone where she would have to prove her mettle to the Doubting Thomases as Head of Government Communications. She is known to be independent-minded and a professional who sticks to ethics rather than the dictates of the ruling elite.
Professor Oatlhokwa Nkomazana
At a time when the country’s health sector is experiencing challenges of acute shortage of medication generally, the appointment of Professor Nkomazana might be a panacea to the trouble-torn yet crucial ministry, which for the longest time has been experiencing multiple challenges. The country’s health sector was exposed by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic with its ailing infrastructure and it has been very slow on its journey to full recovery.
Nkomazana, currently the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Botswana (UB), has a very thick resume that presents her as an accomplished medical expert in her field. She has also travelled extensively in her call of duty. Having previously served as a hospital Superintendent at the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone, Nkomazana, a specialist Ophthalmologist, is familiar with the country’s health sector not only through her academic work but also through practically serving in the sector.
Her appointment comes at the right time and might help turn things around before the country experiences a collapse of the crucial sector at a time when non-communicable diseases are wreaking havoc just on the feet of a long-standing problem associated with HIV/AIDS, which has, however, been well managed. It will, however, take the political will if the ministry’s political head would absorb wise counsel from the experts. From the School of Medicine, Professor Nkomazama has produced many medical doctors spread across the country’s hospitals, which will make management of the human resources even easier. In every discipline, it takes a good manager endowed with strong business acumen to succeed.
Professor Nkomazana’s other advantage is that she has published extensively in the medical field. She is also not the first professor to come from the UB to lead the Health Ministry, as before her, Professor Sheila Tlou; an advocate for human resources for health issues, was once roped into the Health sector as a Specially Elected MP and Minister.
Kabelo Ebineng
About two years ago, Kabelo Ebineng, a stringent administrator whose adherence to the rules of the game could have irked many top civil servants was pushed out of office after an alleged fallout with the then Presidential Task Force team over the procurement of personal protection equipment (PPE). He had questioned the hefty expenditure to purchase the PPE, which was seemingly inflated. Powerful members of the Task Force team pushed for Ebineng’s exit and the President obliged.
He would then be redeployed to a lower position at the Office of the President as a deputy coordinator of the government implementation and coordination office. Other fired top civil servants in the ministry at the time included former Health Ministry PS, Solomon Sekwakwa, Dr Morris Simvula, Baile Moagi, Dr Malaki Tshipayagae, who were apparently pushed out after a fallout with the Presidential Task Force on administrative issues.
It Is not surprising that President Masisi has reappointed Ebineng as a PS because of his strong work ethic and his understanding of the civil service. He is a strong character who cannot be easily moved from what he strongly believes in. He now returns to the Ministry of Entrepreneurship, which is still trying to find its feet. He is expected to breathe life into the Ministry that is expected to help guide Batswana set up businesses and accrue wealth as part of the government’s Reset Agenda.
Botlhale Makgekgenene
She previously held a senior position within the directorate as Deputy Director General (policy) before she was transferred out of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) to the then Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security. Outside the DCEC, she rose through the ranks to the position of a permanent secretary before she was recently returned as a substantive Director General of the DCEC after the directorate operated through circulating acting appointments.
Although she is being recycled, she has a thorough knowledge of the DCEC operations, more so that she previously held fort at the graft-busting agency, albeit on an acting basis. The DCEC has one of the highest turnovers of the DGs as they easily fall out with their principals. Worry is that in the execution of her duties, Makgekgenene could find herself out of favour with her principal and possibly pushed out of work if she fails to toe the line of the employer. The ball is in her court to prove her mettle as an administrator.
Grace Muzila
She is one of the most itinerant civil servants and has been all over the government enclave perhaps, as a result of her nimbleness and aptitude. She seems to be a jack-of-all-trades and master of all.
Muzila has many years of experience behind her in the public service and trust upon her by her principal to continue delivering, is a sign of confidence in her outstanding abilities. She was recently transferred from the troubled Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism knowing that she would quickly adapt at her new station. Her transfer out of the health sector came at the right time before her good record in the public service was soiled by troubles at the ministry. She has done her very best to bring stability at the Health Ministry as the accounting officer and it was only safe that she passed the baton to another administrator. She never folded her arms even in glaring challenges.
Her appointment to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, one of the top foreign exchange earners after mining, is a motion of confidence in her services as the country moves towards diversifying sources of economic growth. In the country’s reset agenda on its economic transformation, there is a dream to support the restoration of economic activity and incomes, facilitating economic growth, accelerating economic transformation and building the resilience of the economy. Her new role might help the government achieve its bigger dream.
John-Thomas Dipowe
In the bigger scheme of things, Dipowe is certainly the biggest loser after his steps were forcibly retraced back to where he had all started, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was tasked with the arduous chore of transforming the government communications machinery but things did not work according to the government plan. He did his very best; unfortunately, he failed to perform to the consummation of his principal. He had taken the onerous task from veteran communicator, Andrew Sesinyi, who had previously performed with aplomb.