President Adv Boko’s headache
President Advocate Duma Boko has refused to bow to some of his ministers demands to fire or transfer their Permanent Secretaries.
The president confirmed this week that some of his ministers want their permanent secretaries removed as they make it difficult for service delivery. Adv Boko revealed that there is too much tension and he must manage it.
Recently Botswana Guardian reported that there is tension between some ministers and their permanent secretaries - a situation which has affected service delivery. This publication established that the president had decided to ignore the proposals made by the cabinet ministers to fire or transfer the permanent secretaries.
“We need to turn things around especially the way we have been doing things. From you Accounting Officers, what we want is agility and a sense of urgency. There will be many clashes along the way. Your ministers are already coming to me aggrieved,” the President said.
According to Adv Boko, the ministers argue that they are not able to deliver on assignment given to them by the president because the permanent secretaries are sabotaging.
“I asked how? They say those people take their sweet time, they are unresponsive on urgent matters and they find all sorts of ways to stall to sabotage. The ministers make demands.
They send me messages asking me how far. So I have to manage the tension. My focus is on delivery and I want us to deliver,” Adv Boko told the Accounting Officers in a High Level Meeting where he outlined his roadmap and key priorities to focus on to revive the economy.
According to the President, there has to be no doubt about how he works. He indicated that he is all about performance and merit from professionals.
“I don’t have to like you. You have to perform because that is what matters. If you perform, I have no conscience to fire you or not renew your contract,” President Boko said.
He explained that the positions occupied by the Accounting Officers not only require technical competence, but also that the officers should have a temperament and emotional intelligence, as they are critical. The president also warned the Accounting Officers about not being bullied and derailed from accounting.
“Some of you, when you appear before these folks, you must tell them this is my remit. It starts here and it ends here. Tell them I don’t make policy decisions, but I implement them. I don’t pass judgements, I execute them as directed,” he said, further encouraging them not to be carried away or intimidated but to account only.
These remarks by the president come after some Accounting Officers reported to the Permanent Secretary to the President, Emmah Peloetletse, that they feel bullied or harassed by members of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when they appear before the committee.
PAC is currently sitting and examining the Books of Accounts for ministries and departments. Adv Boko has revealed that High Policy, as per the law, is accounted for by the Head of State.
'It is none of your business, and whoever has issues with that should go to the president,' President Boko said, adding that the Accounting Officers cannot be crucified for High Policy matters.
“I see many of you get into issues and give an opinion on issues you are not experts in. You drag yourselves into unnecessary trouble just because some inquisitor wants to engage you and stray you offline. Stay on course”.
The President highlighted that it is time for all to be reborn and think things afresh. He said there is a need for change from how things have been done in the past. He stated that a knowledge economy is an experimental economy, and therefore, people have to forget about economic theories as they will not work for Botswana. The president’s priorities to rebuild the economy include Digital Economy, making Botswana a Logistics Hub, Improving Agriculture to best contribute to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and Energy to make the country self-sufficient.
“The amount of money we need, we don’t have it locally. So, we expect tonnes of foreign investment. We want to bring Foreign Direct Investment. We have this challenge of an economy that is not performing and a country on the brink of collapse,” he told the meeting.