OP challenged to swiftly fire non-performers
Minister of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa, has called on President Duma Boko to swiftly act on the deployment of executive management within the ministry and councils, stressing that effective leadership is critical to service delivery.
Speaking at the Forum for Council Mayors and Chairpersons, Motshegwa said he is accountable to both the President and the public, but needs support to succeed.
“We must deploy people who are focused, professional, results oriented, innovative and hardworking for the success of our country,” he said.
He stated that his focus on consequence management means that those who do not perform and are not aligned with the vision must pave the way for the performers.
“So when we bring names for removal of those who do not perform, let OP be quick to act, and when we bring names of those who we believe will drive the vision with distinction, let OP be quick to act. We do not want to shift blame when you hold us accountable, so that is why we plead for support.”
He added, “If my Assistant Minister and I do not perform, fire us, and if my Executives do not perform, I will fire them, and this requires the role of OP to support in the process. It’s consequence management and building a culture of accountability.” On transformation, he said, this country is yearning at all levels for effective, impactful, transformational, agile leadership.
“Let our leadership virtues manifest in great dedication to public service. It has been said that “Honour Virtutis Praemium,' this is a classical Latin aphorism, philosophical and oratorical writings traditionally attributed to the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero, meaning 'the esteem of others, is the reward of virtue.”
According to the minister, they bear responsibility for commitment to effective leadership and service excellence, and “I emphasise commitment to quality and customer service excellence, unparalleled reputation for service excellence. We must be nimble and agile.
We have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of Councils, the Government and the people of this Country. Let us make decisions in our responsibility, and they must be good and moral decisions.
Effective and good leaders step forward, make clear choices, and provide direction for their teams. Decisions and actions decide Destiny”, he stated.
The minister noted that the country must cultivate a new generation of visionary leaders to navigate and overcome the present and possible future challenges.
He argued that the Country is yearning for ideas that are futuristic and can work immediately for Botswana, and this requires intentional leadership, pedigree of execution and implementation.
“We must build a culture of efficiency, execution, and implementation, the absence of which will prevent this country from succeeding. This must be laced with monitoring and evaluation, emphasis on data, research, so that our policies and programmes are data-based”, Motshegwa said.