Continuing his engagements with major government entities, President Duma Boko engaged with Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) this morning, mentioning that there will be "big changes" ahead.
Boko highlighted at a meeting hosted at the Bank of Botswana (BOB) that SOEs and parastatals form part of institutions that must help realise his government vision into tangible benefit for the country and its people.
“How do we position and deploy each SOE to benefit Batswana?” Boko quizzed.
He further reminded the CEOs that SOEs are creatures of statute and are controlled by legislation that they each have a mandate and purpose to serve.
“Has your entity lived up to its billing? What justifies it continues existence? Are they overlapping mandates? What is the degree of overlap if any exist at all?” Boko asked further, adding that those SOEs with overlapping mandates will be rationalised.
The President further admitted that SOEs have been failing and admitted that in the face of a stagnant economy, an economy that is undiversified, with insufficient job creation, staggering wealth and income equality, poverty, and other challenges, his administration must seek an approach that changes this.
“We shall undertake a re-organisation of many of our institutions. We shall do so not recklessly nor haphazardly. To undo and repair damage done to our intuitions can’t be attained in an instant. We must focus on what is right not what is easy and convenient,” he said. Whilst Boko admitted there is need for change, he commits that the re-organisation of SOEs will not be done in haste or haphazardly.
“Most of our SOEs have underperformed and continue to be a burden on government. This state is unacceptable. In the past appointments were not on merit and competence but on affiliation, this has been a problem and that is why we must not focus on merit in our appointment,” he added. According to Boko, most SOEs will be reviewed with some enhanced mandates.
