Africa-Press – Botswana. Ngwato Land Board chairperson, Mr Lesego Raditanka applauded excelling employees for their selflessness, commitment and excellence in executing their mandate.
Speaking during Ngwato Land board excellence awards ceremony recently, Mr Raditanka said his jurisdictional area covered a wide territory, occupying approximately one third of the country with a staff complement of over 400.
Mr Raditanka said it took hard work, perseverance, commitment and grace to be noticed among the best.
Mr Raditanka implored all employees of Ngwato Land Board to work together collectively and harmoniously as a team to reach a countrywide set target of 100 000 plots per year.
Speaking at the same occasion, Chief Education Officer in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development – Serowe Regional Office, Mr Gaobotse Mokomane said land boards were pivotal to good governance structures in driving developmental agenda.
Held under the theme; Performance Awards – A Mindset Change Driver to Achieve Inclusive Sustainable Land Governance, Mr Mokomane said the theme challenged land board employees to give their all when discharging their mandate.
He shared that it was civil servants’ duty to ensure that policy pronouncements were translated into actions and were given a practical touch.
Furthermore, he said mindset change underlined behavioural change and called for a fresh approach to the way business was conducted.
Mr Mokomane said it was imperative to reward employees who had done well to recognise their efforts.
He is of the view that employees are the most valuable resources that contribute to the success of an organisation.
“It is a marvelous thing to have an opportunity like this where we gather in public to say to our excelling employees, thank you.
Celebrating excellence is a culture that must be sustained.
It must not be seen as just as a mere routine,” he said.
He encouraged all those who received awards as well as other employees to commit to resuscitating people’s shattered land dreams, adding that some were potential investors who wanted land for business purposes and some were newlyweds who wanted to move out from their parents’ households.
Ngwato Land Board acting secretary, Mr Ephraim Mosimanyana shared that the institution managed to raise P31 million of support grant against a set target of P34 million, adding that the funds were used to service Batswana.
Mr Mosimanyana also mentioned that they had managed to allocate over 10 000 plots against a target of 22 000, pointing that allocation was ongoing and that by March end, the numbers would have increased.
“We managed to attend to 60 per cent of recorded land disputes and 86 per cent of land transfers,” he explained.
Mr Mosimanyana said Ngwato Main Land Board was faced with a mammoth task of land appeals.
He shared that Ngwato Land Board covered a large area that encompassed 15 sub-land boards.
He said of the 814 appeals, the land board only managed to resolve 243, urgeing sub-land boards to atleast register 10 to 12 appeals per day to allow the main land board to push the backlog.
Furthermore, Mr Mosimanyana said that they were facing delay in issuing out the new secure land title certificates, noting that the delay was emanating from lack of resources to survey and register boundaries.
“We have over 209 000 people who have registered for new secure land title certificates, but we have only managed to issue out 103 000 certificates, which is a very small number” he said.
He complained that Ngwato Land Board continued to experience bigger volumes of squatters, especially at the lands.
Employee of the Year award recipient, Ms Gaboutlwelwe Marotsi said she was expecting the award because she ticked all the boxes of excellence.
Ms Marotsi, who is a records manager at Rakops Sub-land board, said what separated her from the rest was that she did not only limit herself to records management, but could also assist at other departments when the need arose.
Ms Marotsi said she also won the hearts of the people of Rakops within the jurisdiction of Rakops Sub-land board by attending to their pleas on time and giving them feedback.
“That is why I was confident that I would pocket this award.
From here I am going to do 10 times more than what I have been doing.
I urge my fellow employees to be inspired to do the same.
Another award recipient, an Intern officer at Tonota Sub-land Board Ms Goitsemang Mokgatle said she never treated herself as an intern, so neither did everyone around her.
She said customers often praised her and mistaken her for a permanent employee, judging from her hard work and commitment.
Ms Mokgatle said with her internship term going to an end on February 29, she was confident that great things awaited her. Of the 59 awards, Ngwato Main Land Board headquarters scooped 20. Tonota Sub-land Board came second with 18, leading all the sub-land boards.
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