Listen Khama, listen

Mmegi Editor | Wednesday November 23, 2016 12:06

The Board says it conducts a thorough assessment of the detainee and sends a detailed recommendation report to the Director of Health Services who then routes it to the President, via the Attorney General.

According to the Board, the presidency then informs it about successful cases, which are mostly around 25% of the recommended cases. The Board revealed that it has never been informed of the reasons why the President has turned down its recommendations. The President is not obliged to inform it and the Board does not have much power except to recommend.

Mental issues are serious and we want to believe that it is made up of professionals who know what they are doing. For that, we find it worrisome that the President would reject recommendations made by the Board. Furthermore, it is a cause for concern that the President would not at least give reasons, something which would help the Board to be able to meet the criteria required by the presidency in line with the instruments they use.

It is only normal that we ask ourselves that if the Board has been set to advise and recommend based on its assessment, expertise and experience, whose advice then is the President acting on in his refusal to take or implement the advice? Does the President have his own team of experts to do the assessments before rejecting applications? If yes, then the Board legally tasked with the job should be dissolved.  The situation is undesirable as it may now lead to members not applying themselves fully or for professionals to desert the Board, a situation that will leave us in a worse mess.

As stated by concerned sources in the story, it’s hard because if you have recommended somebody for release and the President says no, the question becomes what should they do with that person. It does not only frustrate the Board, but also the person recommended for release.

With the above having been said we urge the presidency to establish a better working relationship between itself and all the stakeholders. Probably, the President has valid reasons. It is therefore important that such reasons are shared. This will help the Board do their job better. Advisory bodies such as this one are set up for a purpose. They should be respected by all and be allowed a conducive environment to operate in.

 

Today’s thought 

“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better. I think that’s the single best piece of advice: constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself” 

- Elon Musk