Civil society makes submissions to APRM
Despite the existence of clear and comprehensive legislation guiding the public service in the country, the public service continues to be bedeviled by issues of laxity, absenteeism, late coming, sexual harassment and leaking of confidential information.
A report compiled by civil society organisations in Botswana in 2020/ 2021 as part of their submissions to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) headlined ‘The Big Governance Issues in Botswana’ indicates that the state of affairs has resulted in poor performance, an increase in the number of reported cases of conflict of interest, corruption and abuse of office.
The report goes on to list Human Rights, Separation of Powers, Public Service and Decentralisation, Citizen Participation and Economic Inclusion, Transparency and Accountability, Vulnerable Groups, Education, Sustainable Development and Natural Resource Management, Access to land and Infrastructure, Food Security, Crime and Security, Foreign Policy and Research and Development as the 12 big governance issues in Botswana.
The conversation focused on why the public service has earned ill repute for poor work ethic and low productivity.
The Public Service Act of 2008, the General Orders of 1975 and the Public Service Charter govern all public servants. As per the Public Service Charter, public servants should observe and adhere to eight principles: regard for the public interest; neutrality; accountability; transparency; freedom from corruption; continuity; duty to be informed and due diligence.
These principles guide the decisions and actions of public servants so as to guard against abuse or misuse of power. They also build public confidence in the public service.
The Public Service Act lists actions that constitute misconduct by public servants. These include: being absent from duty without leave or a reasonable excuse; willful neglect of duty; sleeping whilst on duty; engaging in activities outside official duties; engaging in any gainful occupation outside the public service without the consent of the prescribed authority; being actively involved in partisan politics; use of one’s position in the public service to gain an advantage on a particular issue; use of one’s position to favor another public servant; sexual harassment.
Despite all the efforts meant to build public confidence in the public service, the report says the public service continues to perform poorly. It submits that the problem could be addressed through decentralisation.
“Civil society believes that the poor performance of Botswana’s public service could be solved through decentralisation; the transfer of authority from central to local government. Although not a new concept in Botswana, decentralisation has not been guided by a comprehensive policy, with the result that major responsibilities and powers remain within the central government,” read the report in part.
According to the report, local councils and civil society lack autonomy and have not been given the space to deliver on their mandates. For this to be remedied, the report says government should consider capacitating local government and adopting an inclusive decision-making process that involves all stakeholders.
The civil society has also recommended that government should among other things consider implementing performance-based remuneration to encourage hard work and integrating different age groups in the workforce to ensure continuity when older employees retire.
It is also of the view that reducing the leadership gap between central and local government to improve productivity and service delivery and reducing the public wage bill by privatising some essential services could help transform the public service.