Pascalinah Kabi
Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili urged his ministers and principals secretaries to remain united as government can only succeed through sustained harmony.
Delivering his opening remarks at the Senior Leadership Induction Programme held in Teyateyaneng on Wednesday, the premier said it was important for his government to stay united when addressing the many challenges facing Lesotho.
The three-day induction programme was held for ministers, deputy ministers and principal secretaries (PSs) to prepare them for their respective roles in government.
Dr Mosisili also said it was important to provide the senior leadership with basic knowledge and skills on how the government machinery worked.
“I believe these three days of interaction will go a long way in ensuring a smooth functioning machinery of government at different levels as we learn more about and from each other,” Dr Mosisili said.
The Democratic Congress (DC) leader also said another purpose of the induction was to help them appreciate different government oversight bodies such as Ombudsman, Directorate on Corruption and Economic Offences (DCEO) and Auditor-General’s office.
“These institutions have been included in the programme because a deeper understanding, appreciation and knowledge on all these and other similar institutions, is assumed and expected of every minister and principal secretary.
“It is only when we are well-versed with their roles and functions that we are best-positioned to use all the resources we have at our disposal to deliver the best service to the people of Lesotho,” the prime minister added.
Gatherings of this nature, he added, gave senior government officials an opportunity to exchange views and share experiences on the challenges facing different ministries and the whole country.
He said these challenges included a shrinking national purse, lack of professionalism, high level of indiscipline and inefficiency within the public service.
“These challenges include a highly politicised civil service, and the HIV and Aids pandemic which is devastating our nation’s human resource base and productivity, a high unemployment rate and income inequality, severe food insecurity, a high and ever-rising crime-rate exacerbated by limitations in law-enforcement, poor road and information and technology infrastructure and drought and environment degradation,” he said.
Dr Mosisili said it was his expectation that following the induction, his cabinet and PSs would be better equipped to tackle the challenges head-on.
“The successes of this government shall be achieved through our sustained unity in politics, with the business world, with civil society groups, with religious groups and all Basotho from all walks of life,” he said.
“We shall not, in any way, refrain from inviting our brethren from abroad to join hands in this fierce battle to fight the myriad of development challenges that have undeniable characterised the lives of many Basotho.”
He said it was imperative on the part of the modern-day government to tune itself to the need “to operate within a highly sophisticated information and communications technology environment.”
Dr Mosisili said his government was further planning to organise more extensive trainings for the same group on matters such as the development priorities of the coalition government, its progress to date, Agenda 2063 and implications for Lesotho.
The premier said the future extensive trainings will also touch on government budgeting, performance-monitoring and evaluation.
Dr Mosisili’s DC formed a coalition government with the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD), Popular Front for Democracy (PFD), Lesotho People’s Congress (LPC), Basotho Congress Party (BCP), Marematlou Freedom Party (MFP) and National Independent Party (NIP) after the 28 February 2015 snap elections had resulted in a hung parliament.
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