The Reset Agenda is a concept conceptualised by His Excellency the President Dr M.E.K. Masisi as a broad framework through which Botswana will become among others a country where opportunities for a better life are created primarily for Batswana. As a consequence, it remains one of the most talked about topics in the political and socio-economic construct of this Republic. Expectedly, the top-down approach is premised on the mere fact that the concept is borne out of the highest office in the land and therefore, should be driven from that level downwards. Top-down approach is defined as the one ‘controlled, directed or instituted from the top level’.
Further, it is said that ‘a top-down approach enables traceability, success criteria and other stakeholders who may have a wider expertise and knowledge on the solutions available to make a better recommendation if they understand the business requirements first’. On the face of it, it is a compelling concept that should be readily embraced by patriotic citizens solely for its intentions and objectives. But are there demonstrable signs that the team that is supposed to promote and implement the Reset Agenda for its intended objectives in the top-down fashion is sufficiently capacitated in terms of ‘a wider expertise and knowledge on the solutions….’ Unfolding events paint a contrary picture.
A concept such as the Reset Agenda will be as good as those who are charged with promoting and implementing it for the public good as already alluded to. Put differently, if it is going to not only be poorly but badly approached and by chance be implemented by those who continually blow hot and cold, we may as well be tempted to conclude it will be another concept by a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) President that would have come and evaporated into thin air. One is vividly reminded of the former President General Ian Khama’s 5 Ds which at the end of his presidency but having being warmly received like the Reset Agenda, also evaporated into thin air.
The cumulative positive domino effect of having the Reset Agenda approached in the top-down fashion is the fact that it will not be cumbersome for the leadership to cascade the overall intention of the concept to the all and sundry. This because it will be packaged in a coordinated manner such that convoluted messages are not sent to the intended recipients. For time immemorial, government has been accused and justifiably so, of being good at coming with good policies and programmes but very bad in implementing them. The Reset Agenda could very well be a victim of the same approach where a good concept is advertently or inadvertently scuppered by poor to bad promotion and implementation by the powers that be. This scenario would more or less resonate with my last week’s argument that the centre is not holding where anything that could possibly go wrong does so in fact.
Clear and defined roles of those who should promote and implement the concept from the Office of the President should be so defined. There are two high profile offices located at the OP whose roles seemingly, are not clearly defined as to which one primarily, is tasked with such promotion and implementation. There are respectively the Chief of Staff and Permanent Secretary to the President offices whose roles or better still their mandates with respect to which one is the lead office in this matter. As soon as their roles and parameters are not clearly defined, a confusion of unimaginable proportions ensues. The Permanent Secretary to the President is by law the ultimate head of the civil service. In the recent past, it was reported that the Chief of Staff had visited the Prisons department whereat he demanded that prisons staff and by extension the civil service should carry the BDP manifesto in order to continually remind themselves of the promises made by the party. It is not clear whether the Chief of Staff had had explicit concurrence of the Permanent Secretary to the President for the former to make it mandatory for the civil servants to carry a BDP manifesto in their persons. This is bound to create a confusion of sorts as to whose word carries the day between the two offices.
It is about one year or so since the Reset Agenda was unveiled by the President. Are signs visible that the concept is truly alive and on course notwithstanding public statements by its various proponents? To be fair to the concept, it is still too early to expect tangible outcomes apart from such and only public statements. That notwithstanding, I am afraid there are no tangible signs that in the overall spirit of the concept, government is making any breakthrough to demonstrate that she is breaking ranks with the past. I touched extensively on some of the issues in my last week’s piece.
Maybe a recent example and the one before it could be brought up to show that much has, or is not been done to depart from the past is the recent change of guard at the DEBSWANA and Botswana Unified Revenue Service (BURS) respectively. Ms Lynette Armstrong has since August 2019 been the Acting Managing Director of the company. That is a period of about 2 years 9 months. The expectation here is that Ms Armstrong was doing well during her acting period because if that was not the case, she would have long being removed for say incompetence. It is not clear whether she was promised to be the substantive Managing Director when she accepted to act. It has since been announced that Rre Andrew Motsomi has been appointed to the substantive position of DEBSWANA Managing Director. A similar situation occurred at BURS where Rre Segolo Lekau who had acted as the Commissioner General for a considerable period of time was replaced by Mme Jeanette Makgolo.
Like already alluded to, one is not privy to the circumstances that prevented Ms Armstrong and Rre Lekau from being confirmed as substantive heads of the two organisation. But in the eyes of the public, an injustice of sorts would have been meted on the two particularly that they had acted for a considerable period of time. I must state that my contention is not about the suitability or lack thereof of those who have been deposed but by letting them to act for so long and for them to be dropped after so long. Neither am I questioning the suitability or lack thereof of the substantive persons. In some way, a legitimate expectation may have been created for them to be appointed substantively to the positions. If the argument is that recruitment of substantive heads of the two organisations was under way, the period to do so was unnecessarily and unreasonably too long. When all is said and done, the fundamental question should be: why allow individuals to act for so long and only to discard them down the road.
Various accounting officers from different ministries are appearing at the Public Accounts Committee where by and large, the same movie we have witnessed before is repeating itself. Accounting officers, past and present, have always struggled to give good accounts of themselves in so far as public funds in their custody are spent for the public good. It is jaw dropping to listen to senior public officers either coming to the committee woefully unprepared or simply failing to convincingly give a good account of why they are in those positions. Nothing suggests the situation will become any better than it is anytime soon. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that consequent management is unheard of for these accounting officers. If it is applied, it should be far and in between and probably selective. One is dead sure the same poor showing will repeat itself in the future.
With all the above emanating largely from senior public officers, it should go without saying that the Reset Agenda is in danger of becoming another failed concept that will be heard of in public statements but failing to have the intended impact on the general public. The bottom layer of society will find it hard to have a buy-in in the concept when senior public officers are evidently unable to comprehend it through their conduct and attitudes.
The President must up the ante by demanding his legacy project is not only spoken about in cabinet, parliament and other fora but that his senior public officers deliver tangible outcomes in the true spirit of the concept. It is not enough for the Chief of Staff to be suggesting that traveling in public transport is an impactful thing to demonstrate that the Reset Agenda is well and truly underway. There must be a serious paradigm shift demonstrated by the political and administrative leadership that indeed a departure from the past is well and truly in motion within the context of the Reset Agenda. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as always. Judge for Yourself!
‘No one is safe until everyone is safe’. Covid-19 pandemic still remains a serious threat to our well-being. Let us continue to adhere to all safety protocols without fail.
