Stryker Motlaloso
11 April 2008
Gaborone — President, Lieutenant General Ian Khama and his deputy, Lt. Gen Mompati Merafhe have allayed fears that government might have moved to the barracks since the two are former army generals.
Addressing managers of the civil service comprising all permanent secretaries and their deputies on 3 April at Boipuso Hall in Gaborone with the new President, Merafhe reportedly assured the civil service that he and his boss would not resort to military conduct in the running of government affairs just because they have an army background.
"We will rule this country properly. The fact that I and my boss have a military background does not mean that government has moved to the barracks," Merafhe assured his audience.
In his brief, Khama is said to have told the meeting that he expects the civil service to deliver on service and development because he has signed a contract with the nation through his inaugural speech and his '4 Ds' roadmap.
In response, the heads of the civil service reportedly agreed with Khama that since he was coming in as a new President, there is need for them and the nation to know his expectations.
However, Khama is also understood to have warned managers of the civil service to up their act or risk the wrath of the new administration by throwing it into a military style government.
The Boipuso Hall meeting was a follow up to an announcement that Khama made to the nation when he took office on April 1, that he would lay his vision, encapsulated in the 4 Ds principle, to Cabinet and the entire senior management of government, his expectations of them regarding pledges his government has made to the nation.
" As part of a team charged with delivering services and development to the nation, I hope they are all up to the task because those who are unable to deliver cannot be kept in the team," Khama warned.
The coordinator of the government Communication and Information Service, Dr Jeff Ramsay, said he was reluctant to comment on the contents of the meeting as it was held in camera. "I find no problem in confirming that there was a meeting. The meeting was in line with what the President promised in his inaugural speech," said Ramsay.
In his blue print, delivered in his inaugural speech, Khama outlined the 4Ds as comprising: democracy, development, dignity and discipline as guides towards attainment of Vision 2016.
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