24 Jun 2024

The Economic Committee of Cabinet (ECC), which gathered in Gaborone yesterday, examined key proposed laws due to be tabled before Parliament, in order to ensure better outcomes and delivery to Batswana.

The ECC,  a gathering of the national cabinet, permanent secretaries and selected heads of government departments and advisory groups,  examined four pieces of proposed legislation: the Public Service Bill, Employment and Labour Relations Bill, the Re-Enactment of the Electronic Services and Transactions Bill  as well as the Medical Aid Funds Bill

Addressing the ECC meeting President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi  said 'our confidence in the outcomes of meetings such as this one will most importantly energise us to confidently deliver on our responsibilities and obligations to Batswana.

We have to satisfy ourselves that what we will present to Parliament to enact into law satisfies our expectations.'

He said the purpose of the Public Service Bill, due to be tabled by the Minister for State President, was to revise the existing Public Service Act that was initially passed into law by Parliament in 2008 and taken into effect in May 2010.

“The implementation challenges encountered when the provisions of the existing law are applied across the various sectors of the public service necessitated a review of the Public Service Act.

The current Public Service Act needed an overhaul in order to ensure that it appropriately serves the interests of Government as the employer and the public service workers themselves,” Dr Masisi pronounced.

The Employment and Labour Relations Bill, on the other hand, under the purview of the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs would seek to consolidate into a single overarching law the existing Employment Act, the Trade Unions and Employers Organisations Act and the Trade Dispute Act.

President Masisi further said the new proposed law sought to certify that the country’s labour laws were updated to align to international norms and statutes, as well as to support the implementation of the National Employment Policy adopted by Parliament in 2022.

“One of the expected critical outcomes of the revised Public Service Act and the envisaged Employment and Labour Relations law will be the creation of governance structures to facilitate effective collective bargaining on matters of mutual interest involving employees and their unions, as well as employers and employer organisations,” he revealed.

Stressing the need for a clear balance between workers’ welfare and performance improvement, Dr Masisi said the proposed laws sought to arrive at the alignment of the conditions of service of the public service to those of the private sector for enhanced work ethic and productivity improvement.

He said the Services and Transactions Bill, under the ambit of the Minister of Communications, Knowledge and Technology intended to enhance public data security and privacy; citizen engagement and participation; improvement in transparency and accountability by public sector employees; and to provide for the opening up of data sources to facilitate the transition towards a knowledge-based economy.

A completely new bill discussed by the EEC was the Medical Aid Funds Bill under the custodianship of the Minister of Finance that would plug the gap of no sector-specific law directly regulating medical aid funds.

“This Bill is for medical aid funds operating on a non-profit basis like BOMAID and BPOMAS.

Transition arrangements for medical aid funds operating on a not for-profit basis have been provided for in the Bill, whilst a Bill to regulate the for-profit medical aid funds like Botsogo is being drafted,” Dr Masisi said.

He said the proposed bill would provide for the regulation of medical aid funds in order to ensure sustainability, good governance and sound management of resources for the benefit of members. ENDS