FRANCISTOWN: Barely months in office, The President’s Chief of Staff Boyce Sebetlela has begun to shake things up.
He has advised senior prison officers to implement the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) agenda without fear in the execution of their duties and responsibilities.
He explained that any party that wins elections has its own agenda, which should be respected and adhered to by those who are serving its government.
Addressing a Prisons Capacity Building Workshop on Botswana Prison Service Gender Based Violence Programme and Offender Rehabilitation and Reintegration Programme in Francistown last week at Adansonia hotel, Sebetlela who was a guest speaker said the ruling party is in power and it is run by politicians whose agenda should be implemented.
“Those who are in power are politicians. They defeated other politicians in the 2019 general elections and their agenda became part of the public program. Do not feel bad about pushing their agenda. In fact you and other employees who are working for the state are pushing the ruling party agenda,” he emphasised.
Sebetlela reminded the officers that part of his job as a Chief of Staff at the office of the President is to make sure that the national priority in view of political pronouncements including party manifesto are implemented successfully – the most recent being the Re-set Agenda.
Sebetlela was making a presentation on President Masisi’s Re-Set Agenda initiative which forms part of his portfolio. In May 2021 the government came up with the Re-Set Agenda as part of the efforts to cushion the country from the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Re-Set agenda has five priorities which are; Saving the population from Covid-19, Reforming the public service, digitalization, value chain development and mind set change.
Among other important issues, he showered accolades on President Masisi for coming up with the Re-Set Agenda as it seeks to bring about new economic transformations for the benefit of the country. He also commended the Prisons Services for having embraced the Re-Set Agenda as a way of transform and improve its service delivery.
Earlier on in her welcome remarks, the Commissioner of Prison Services Dinah Marate revealed that she recently launched a road map which serves as a blueprint that defines the direction which they will take. She explained that through this road map, they seek to have a motivated team that aligns to the values of the government of Botswana especially the Re-Set Agenda. Marate also said they seek to create a team that has ownership and sets tone of a high performance culture. She said they have significant projects and programs that have been implemented and are aligned to the Re-set agenda.
“In terms of priority area one, we have the “Save Botswana Population from Covid-19”. We have been able to save the prison population from Covid – 19 by establishing Isolation Centres and Quarantine in our Prisons. We have been able to contain the spread of Covid-19 and achieved low morbidity and mortality. We are progressing and doing well,” she told the gathering.
The Commissioner of Prisons also said they have also managed to make progress in terms of digitalization. She said they have been able to initiate a Computer Training School for young offenders at Moshupa Boys Prison. They are also in the process of facilitating virtual lessons at the Prison Staff College. Marate added that they also want to take advantage of the virtual network usage as accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic to maximize virtual counseling sessions.
“The projects are expected to improve efficiency and service delivery to Batswana and add value to Prison Security,” she said.
She further said the Re-Set Agenda is very important as it is key to the delivery of government programmes to the entire population.
The workshop was sponsored by the SADC secretariat, in particular officials from the Organ on Politics. The Secretariat also used the platform to capacitate the Prison Management Team to deliver effectively on the Gender Based Violence Perpetrators Program and Offender Rehabilitation and Reintegration Strategy.
