Africa-Press – Botswana. President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed concern about poor service delivery, emphasising that it should be addressed urgently.
The President was speaking at a Joint Retreat of accounting officers and chief executive officers of state owned enterprises (SOEs) in Mmamashia yesterday.
The retreat is an initiative by Office of the President (OP) aimed at creating a high level strategic platform that would enable the leadership operating in the public sector space to interact and exchange views on key national priorities geared on advancing the national development agenda.
Setting the tone for the retreat, President Masisi said on numerous occasions during his kgotla meetings countrywide, he was inundated with numerous complaints regarding poor service delivery.
“You need to proactively engage the communities at district and local levels who experience many challenges regarding service delivery. Make sure you understand and appreciate their concerns. The feedback they provide regarding the impact of policies and programmes on their livelihoods is critical as it may necessitate their review,” he said.
President Masisi said delayed payment of suppliers of goods and services was also a persistent challenge that required attention.
He said some of the companies especially small and medium size enterprises had closed down while some were on the brink of collapse due to lack of timely payments from government entities.
“We cannot allow this untenable situation to continue as it undermines the credibility of government in its commitment to support the private sector, especially citizen owned businesses. I wish to implore entities with outstanding payments to suppliers and service providers to settle them by the end of this month,” he added.
He advised them to adhere to the set turnaround time of settling payments to suppliers and service providers within 10 working days.
President Masisi said government had developed a number of empowerment initiatives among others Public Procurement Act and the Economic Inclusion law.
He said all approved policies and laws should be fully implemented without any exception. The President urged accounting officers to be proactive in searching for alternative sources of financing as government subventions had proven to be unsustainable.
He said government had recently approved the National Transformation Strategy which served as a vehicle for achieving the Vision 2036 aspiration and hoped that the retreat would be used to brainstorm on innovative ways and impactful strategies that would act as a catalyst for achieving the envisioned economic growth.
For her part Permanent Secretary to the President, Ms Emma Peloetletse said the retreat was the first of its kind that was used to introspect, pick lessons and sharpen to smooth transition to the next financial year.
Ms Peloetletse said the forum offered President Masisi an opportunity to share his vision to deliver the transformational message to Batswana.
She thanked President Masisi for believing in them in their discharge of duties and said they were privileged to serve Batswana.
“Our commitment remains central to our course. We sternly believe government cannot do it alone. We thank you for never tiring from pushing creative ideas as President,” she said.
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