The newly established parastatal, Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA), previously known the Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property (ROCIP), has started recruiting for key positions such as the Corporate Services Director and the Board Secretary, its Registrar General, Conductor Masena said in response to a query from Gazette Business.
CIPA was established by a 2011 Act of Parliament, the Companies and Intellectual Property Act, to promote and enable full protection of the rights of investors and right holders obtained under the Companies Act, Registration of Business Names Act, Industrial Property Act and Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act.
“The current office of Registrar of Companies and Intellectual Property has been established as an autonomous body called Companies and Intellectual Property Authority capable of suing and being sued in its own name,” Masena said.
He said it is aimed to be an effective and efficient, self sustaining organisation that will enhance operational processes of doing business in Botswana.
“The rationale for establishing CIPA was premised on three key issues: to improve its operational efficiency which will greatly enhance doing business in Botswana; relief government of organisations which have the potential to sustain themselves and to assist the Authority to attract and retain skilled personnel,” he said.
Masena, who is currently the only employee of the parastatal organisation, was employed in August last year and the Board was appointed two months later. The organisation, according to the Registrar General, is currently working on a human resource consultancy which will yield deliverables such as the organisational structure job profiles, pay structure and conditions of service.
Regarding the effect of the change from ROCIP to CIPA on the staff turnover, Masena said it is hoped that this transformation will help to lower staff turnover rate. Though not all ROCIP employees will be employed by CIPA in its recruitment exercise, they will be given first preference.
The salaries and wage bill is also expected to change. “It is given that when a Government department is transformed into a parastatal, the salaries and the wage bill of the organisation changes. The magnitude of the change will only be known once a fully-fledged CIPA is established and is in operation,” Masena said.