Gaborone — The Public Service Commission (PSC) can count on government support, which it needs to effectively carry out its mandate.
State President minister, Mr Kabo Morwaeng said July 27 when speaking during a brief engagement with members of the commission here.
The minister said it was important that the PSC became effective as that would bring trust and peace in the civil service and boost productivity in the workplace.
"Challenges cannot be avoided, but government will try by all means to create a conducive environment to enable you to do your work, and from here we will give all your challenges a priority and address them as soon as possible," he said.
Mr Morwaeng added the commission was core to the effectiveness of the public service, taking into consideration its expertise as it was made up of former top civil servants who were well acquainted with public service procedures.
He also applauded the commission for a job well done so far, as it had already managed to push the backlog of cases it found.
Earlier on, the commission's chairperson, Mr Samuel Leero had informed Minister Morwaeng of the challenges they faced that hampered their work, among them lack of office space as they were currently accommodated at the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM).
"Our independence as a commission should not only be on paper but should be apparent, but the fact that were are accommodated by DPSM might compromise that perception and lead to lack of trust by the civil servants," he said.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Mr Leero also complained about government departments that failed to honour their invitations to resolve employee cases despite being invited on time. "The departments either come or send junior staff who cannot make decisions. This is despite the law indicating that resolutions taken by the commission were binding and final.
Some departments are also slow in implementing resolutions of the commission, which leads to employees coming back to complain again," he said.
He also advised government departments to always follow procedure in disciplinary issues of employees as it had turned out that such failure to follow procedure was the cause of many disputes against the government
Mr Leero said other challenges they faced included lack of vehicles and shortage of support staff. He said also raised concern about a thin commission membership, which had potential to collapse their quorum when other members were not available.
BOPA
