2009 Public Service Convention opens on Sunday

source: Republic of Botswana (22/8/09): TAUTONA TIMES no 22 of 2009
The Electronic Press Circular of the Office of the President
"Democracy, Development, Dignity and Discipline"


C1) 21/8/09: 2009 Public Service Convention opens on Sunday

The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, the Honourable Dr. Margaret Nasha, will officially open the 2009 Public Service Convention on Sunday evening (23/8/09) at a working dinner hosted by the Permanent Secretary to the President, Mr. Eric Molale ( beginning @ 1700 hrs @ GICC).

The event will also feature a keynote address by the Convention's special guest, Mr. Frans Kapofi, who is the Head of the Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet in Namibia.

The three day Convention will be an opportunity for senior civil servants to come together as a team in order to strategise on ways to better achieve the Botswana Public Service's common vision to "provide a world class service that is efficient, effective, caring and responsive to local and global challenges."

In fulfilling its mission the Public Service is mandated to continuously implement performance improvement initiatives and maintain Public Service Standards in order to create a sustainable and conducive environment for quality service delivery.

As H.E. the President, Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama, observed in his 2008 State of the Nation Address:

"If Government is to be truly for the people, its public service must be efficiently staffed with men and women who appreciate that their vocational existence is premised upon the expectations of their customers, the public. In this way the Public Service will have the mindset to act as a facilitator, rather than bottleneck, in our broader efforts to realise sustained economic growth and social development."

All members of the Public Service are thus expected to cultivate a mutually supportive culture at the workplace that is customer focused, rewards performance and empowers the nation.

In this context, the theme of this year's Convention is "Transformational Leadership for Customer Focused Delivery - From Rhetoric to Consolidation and Effective Execution."

The Convention is thus expected to examine current performance in the context of local best practice examples with further reference to the Public Service Standards and latest customer service surveys.

General topics areas to be work-shopped will include Process Reengineering, Management Strategies and Decentralisation. Additional areas of focus will include bringing services closer to the people through E-Government and forging partnerships for improved service delivery.

The Convention will conclude on Tuesday afternoon (25/8/09)