Decentralisation In Botswana

Khama lacks discipline, says Maun West MP

"[He] likes to say politicians lack discipline and accuse people of being unpatriotic. When the Ombudsman told him to stop flying [military] helicopters he did not stop, as he went on to fly them. Isn't that in-discipline?" Moremi retorted.

He also accused the President of using disaster funds to create the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), which he said was abusing the taxpayer's money. "This is why I say he is unpatriotic," Moremi said to thousands of BMD faithful and members of the opposition Umbrella.

Moremi, who recently resigned from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) has been rumoured to be on his way to joining the BMD. However no announcement to that effect was made at the rally. When quizzed about his relationship with BMD, the legislator said he is yet to make up his mind on which party to join.

 If historic events were a pointer to political decisions, Moremi could very well be expected to join the BMD. Last year another independent Member of Parliament, Lobatse's Nehemiah Modubule's membership to the BMD was preceded by his attendance of BMD functions. Then, he too said he was still looking for a political home.

Meanwhile Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPUSU) official Johnson Motshwarakgole hailed the newly formed Opposition Umbrella and said the coalition must prepare to unseat the BDP come 2014 general elections.

Motshwarakgole also assured the BMD and opposition in general that the labour movement would vote for the opposition.

"We are about 96,000, so imagine these numbers together with the opposition and other members of society facing down the BDP. Victory is near," he said to thunderous applause.

BMD deputy president Botsalo Ntuane told the gathering that the BDP will be relegated to opposition when the Umbrella takes over government in 2014. Ntuane, who is also Leader of Opposition in Parliament, said a recent report sponsored by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) has also revealed that by 2014 the BDP will lose elections.

"Even Julius Malema is saying it. The time for BDP in power is over," he said. He advised BDP councillors and MPs who are contemplating joining the opposition to defect soon before it's late.

 "[Come] 2014 we will sweep off their constituencies, so they should join the bandwagon now before it's late," he said. Deputy Gaborone mayor, Haskins Nkayigwa who recently defected from the BDP to the BMD and who was one of 10 councillors being welcomed to the BMD from the BDP decried inner party democracy within his former party. Councillors, he said were not allowed to critically contribute to and debate issues around service delivery. He said this was one of the reasons he left adding that being a councillor entails contributing constructively in council and not "just talking at funerals," he said.

Part 3- Best Practices on PSR in Sub-Saharan Africa - CoP-MfDR-Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa has had some success stories to share in implementation of the respective PSR agenda. Some best practices will cover the following PSR elements: performance management, public accountability and transparency; policy dialogues and consultation; e-Government initiatives; decentralized service delivery; and business process re-engineering.

Performance Management [ Botswana ]. The institutional framework for establishing, monitoring and controlling performance in public service delivery is generally weak in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. Botswana has taken laudable, effective and replicable steps in institutionalizing performance measurement and management; establishing service standards; establishing clear and actionable lines of accountability for its public service and embraced reform efforts. For example, management structures have been put in place to facilitate and to provide structures for consultation, performance reviews and reporting. These include structures like the Ministerial Performance Improvement Committees (MPICs); Perfomance Improvement Committee of Permanent Secretaries (PIC-FORCE); and the Economic Committee of Cabinet (ECC). Established as well, are Work Improvement Teams (WITs) in the Ministries and Performance Improvement Coordinators attached to each Permanent Secretary.

Through the Ministerial Performance Improvement Committees structure, which is chaired by the Permanent Secretary, the performance of Ministries is reviewed quarterly at Ministry level. The Permanent Secretary to the President, through the PIC-FORCE also reviews the performance of each Ministry with relevant Permanent Secretaries bi-annually. At cabinet level through the ECC, the President reviews the performance of the Ministers bi-annually. All Permanent Secretaries attend the Economic Committee of Cabinet as well.

Work Improvement Teams (WITs) have been institutionalized and used within the context of a performance management system to facilitate identification and problem-solving of operational bottlenecks in Ministries. This structure has positively impacted on the ability to deliver timely and quality services in those Ministries that have used WITs effectively.

Policy Dialogues and Consultation [ Botswana ]. Botswana has further established the ‘Vision Council’ a high level consultative council  between the private sector and public service managers aimed at facilitating dialogue on national development issues.

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