The Permanent Secretary to the President, Eric Molale, and a considerable number of Permanent Secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries and Directors are reported to have retired from their posts and are working on short term contracts, sources at the government enclave have revealed.
Molale informed directors and permanent secretaries in December last year that they must all retire from their posts and re-apply.
It is understood that Molale and Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour, Ikwatlhaeng Bagopi, are among those who resigned their posts and reapplied to work on contract.
In a brief interview, Government spokesperson, Dr. Jeff Ramsay, who is currently on leave, confirmed that a majority of senior civil servants want to retire.
“Majority of the people want to retire. People are leading by example as more and more people are on contract,” he said. He refuted reports that the Directors and Permanent Secretaries were told to resign their posts and re apply saying they were encouraged to retire.
“They were given an option to retire and apply; not a single person was told to resign. Many people are on contract as we speak and this is in line with the Public Service Act of 2008,” he said.
Asked to comment on reports that Molale and Bagopi were some of the senior public servants who retired their posts and are currently working on contract basis, Ramsay was non-committal.
“I have no idea. These are personal issues but what I can confirm is that people are leading by example,” he said.
The Director of the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM), Carter Morupisi, confirmed that Molale had informed him that he would forward the list of those who had applied to retire when he reports for duty next week.
“The PSP is on leave as we speak and he has promised to forward me the list for processing when he returns,” he said. Asked if he was aware that Molale had resigned his own post and reapplied, Morupisi said, “I have no idea. He is my boss so I wouldn’t know.”
Efforts to get comment from Molale were futile as his mobile phone rang unanswered. Immediate comment from Bagopi was not also available.
The Organizing Secretary of the Manual Workers Union, Johnson Motshwarakgole, confirmed in an interview that they were aware of reports that Molale and Bagopi resigned their posts and are currently on contract. But Motshwarakgole is not amused by the latest development.
Speaking in an interview, Motshwarakgole warned Directors and Permanent Secretaries of what he called indiscernible dangers of such a directive because some of them could be victimised because they are not in the government’s good books.
Motshwarakgole believes that the initiative is government’s strategy to bypass the implementation of the exit policy.
“Permanent Secretaries and Directors should not be complacent. As Manual workers, we are the only union to have negotiated the exit policy in 2000 and we were negotiating for the entire public service. We believe that people should retire on voluntary basis, and this initiative should not be used to victimise those who are not in good books. Instead of this initiative government should have encouraged people to take up the exit policy,” said Motshwarakgole.
According to Motshwarakgole, government should fire all the senior civil servants that it want to see retiring from their posts.
“The Permanent Secretaries and Directors must stand up for their rights. They shouldn’t be sycophants. The manual workers are ready to assist them even if they intend to take the legal route,” he said.
Asked why they were concerned about the matter because it did not affect their members Motshwarakgole, believes that it is likely to be extended to their members in the near future hence the need to nip it in the bud.
“We had initially advised government to encourage people to retire through the exit policy; we had recommended that at least 50 people should volunteer to quit the public service annually. The government was going to be sure of new posts and accommodate fresh graduates who are roaming the streets,” said Motshwarakgole.
Commenting on the matter, Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund Chief Executive
Officer, Ephraim Letebele, said they are aware that a large number of senior
civil servants will be retiring as of March 2013.
“The Fund does not expect any drastic effect as a result of this exercise. It has to be noted that the expected number of anticipated retirees as a percentage of the total fund membership is relatively small. That notwithstanding we expect a sizeable amount to be paid out as retirement benefits to affected members,” said Letebele.
He added: “It has to be appreciated that retirement by any member of the Fund is normal course. However, in this instance, the Fund stands ready to facilitate the retirement payouts in accordance with the Fund’s retirement process.”
Government believes that the paradigm shift is aimed at streamlining the Public Service and, as such, it is envisioned that the initiative will increase productivity within Government organisations.
Owing to the inner workings of this initiative that upon re-applying for employment, Senior Managers will be hired on contracts of 24, 36, and 60 months.
