- Public service unions say President Duma Boko’s frustrations attributed to public servants’ conduct are misguided
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
Public service unions have urged President Duma Boko to stop blaming civil servants for his frustrations and instead address policy and leadership gaps within his administration.
Responding to Boko’s recent criticism of bureaucratic sluggishness, Manual Workers Union Deputy CEO Robert Rabasimane said the President should direct his grievances to specific entities rather than condemn the entire public service.
LEGAL AND POLICY FRAMEWORKS
Rabasimane stressed that public servants operate within strict legal and policy frameworks. “Public servants cannot simply do what the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government wants while there are no supporting policies,” he said. “Until government reviews and aligns its policies with its objectives, public servants cannot act outside the law.”
LEADERSHIP FAILURE
Botswana Land Boards Local Authorities and Health Workers Union (BLLAHWU) Secretary General Motshidisi Mafoko echoed similar sentiments, saying Boko’s frustrations reflect a failure of leadership rather than inefficiency within the public service.
“To avoid the frustrations he talks about, the President should engage with us as unions so that we can explain the root causes,” Mafoko said. “The Permanent Secretary to the President should show intentional leadership and a better understanding of how the public service works.”
RIGID AND SLOW
The unions’ remarks follow Boko’s comments at the Botswana-Namibia Binational Commission in Windhoek last week, where he accused public officers of being rigid and slow to act.
“I get frustrated by you public officers with your rigidities, your routinized sluggishness, your reticence, and your inability to respond instantly, decisively, and boldly,” Boko said.
He also decried excessive formality in the public service, saying it stifles genuine engagement. “You are too formal, calling each other ‘excellences’ and other titles,” he said. “I want us to focus on real issues because we are all human and fallible.”