Let this not be just new names

President Mokgweetsi Masisi last week announced new ministries while re-aligning others. Through his speech, the President assured Batswana that things will get better. Mr President, it is time to get this one thing right, please! As it is well-known, promises are as thin and fragile as piecrust; easily made, easily broken.

Batswana are unhappy. Batswana are suffering. The cost of living keeps on increasing and young people continue to roam the streets. It is therefore important that government does all it takes to yield results.

Mr President, you were a member of Cabinet when less than 10 years ago, a similar exercise was undertaken by your predecessor.

Where are the results? Fair enough, we shall grant you a chance, but bear in mind the cost of the exercise you undertook.

A lot of money will be used to establish these new entities; money that should be accounted for. We want results, Mr President.

It is important to start by ensuring that individual Cabinet members are up to the challenge.

It is also imperative that you employ dedicated and qualified accounting officers in all the establishments.

We have seen a lot of them fail to account properly before parliamentary committees. We have heard of vacant important positions and we now call on you and your Cabinet to make it a point that they do account.

Mr President, it is high time that accounting officers bear legal costs as it has become a norm that they mess up knowing well that government will foot the bill.

If you ensure that all those you supervise do their work diligently, they will also ensure that those they supervise deliver according to expectations.

Our work ethic needs to be improved at all levels so that we as a country can get somewhere. It is only through being productive that more Batswana can get jobs and the standard of living improves.

We further call on Batswana to play their part and support government workers who are trying.

It is also high time we demand the best of service and register our grievances accordingly, rather than rant on social media platforms.

We, therefore, wish those appointed in key positions all the best and plead with them to always know that they are there to serve Batswana.

If they perform well in their roles, then the country can get somewhere, otherwise, the latest exercise would be just as good as moving around old furniture.