08 Apr 2025

Bold and innovative policies, backed by sound evidence and robust research are key for Botswana to re-build and achieve the desired transformative growth. 

The Minister for State President, Mr Moeti Mohwasa said this when officiating at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis (BIDPA) Public Policy Development Dialogue in Gaborone yesterday.

Mr Mohwasa said policy-making process was evidence-based and at the core of government's work  as government used policies to address problems that required solutions. He expressed delight that once the Draft Public Policy Development Framework was finalised, it would move government in the right direction in adopting the use of evidence in policy making.

“We need policies and actions to accelerate economic development and expand opportunities for our citizens,” he said. Mr Mohwasa said the dialogue came at a crucial time in the history of the country, where a new government of the Umbrella for Democratic Change found itself having inherited a country with complex challenges.

“However, we'll not sit in self-pity, as the government because of where we find ourselves today. We have taken it upon ourselves to spearhead a transformative agenda that will lead to a new and transformed Botswana that we all desire,” he added.

For this reason, minister Mohwasa applauded BIDPA for organising the dialogue, saying it afforded relevant stakeholders an opportunity to interact and share ideas on finding solutions to policy making challenges and come up with alternative approaches to addressing the challenges faced by policy makers and people involved in policy making space. The policy dialogue, he said, also underscored the collective commitment to shaping a brighter future for communities and the nation. He noted that government was committed to creating evidence-based policies that were inclusive, equitable and sustainable.

Mr Mohwasa said using evidence-based policies would help curb challenges such as persistent inconsistencies in the way public policies were developed and lack of a clear blueprint on what processes were needed to develop policies.

In his welcome remarks, BIDPA Board Chairperson, Mr Daniel Molaodi stressed the need to re-think and re-establish the policy development agenda, saying for a long time, policy-making space had been disoriented, yet policy was what drove organisations.

Mr Molaodi said it was the responsibility of the public service to guide government leaders through effective and efficient policies that served the nation well.

“Any absence of the right policy to guide strategic direction of an organisation, or the nation, cannot advice government objectively,” he said. The dialogue was themed “Re-Thinking the Public Policy Development Process: Towards a More Inclusive and Evidence-Based." ENDS