06 Apr 2025

Government intends to carry out an organisational assessment and redefine the job descriptions to address inconsistencies in both the Department of Information Services (DIS) and Department of Broadcasting Services (DBS). 

Responding to a parliamentary  question on behalf of the Minister for State President, the Minister for International Relations Dr Phenyo Butale said initially both departments had personnel located in Gaborone and subsequently their roles and responsibilities grew to include the districts. He observed that during these transitions, no organisational assessment had taken place to evaluate the scope and complexity of specific roles, potentially leading to these discrepancies.  

Dr Butale said this situation had resulted in a deadlock and slowed the advancement of workers in both divisions, especially those in Information Services who appear to be at a disadvantage, hence the need for reviews to tackle the inconsistencies. 

He stated that the total of reporters on the C1 salary scale at DBS was 18, whereas DIS had 25. Dr Butale observed that on average, officers had remained at C1 scale for 10 years, with some cases exceeding 15 years of stagnation. He also stated that past attempts had been made via manpower planning to increase band strength, stagnation and welfare issues. 

Dr Butale also pointed that at present, DBS had 445 staff members instead of the anticipated 482, while DIS had 258 staff members out of the expected 276. Additionally, he said DBS operated 15 outstations, comprising one station headed at D2, eight stations at D3, three stations at D4, and three stations within the C1 salary scale. 

On the contrary, he said DIS operated 19 offices divided among four regional locations in Francistown, Serowe, Molepolole, and Kanye. He said the regional offices were led at D3, while other district offices were managed at C1 and D4 salary levels, that is four at D3, one at D4 and 19 at C1 salary levels. 

Minister Butale stated that the roles of Information Services and Broadcasting Services involved sharing information and conveying public policies related to Botswana’s social, political, and economic progress. Broadcasting Services fulfils its mandate via radio and television, whereas Information Services accomplishes its mandate through print, such as DailyNews, Kutlwano Magazine, and various other publications. 

Molepolole North MP, Mr Arafat Khan had requested the minister to provide the staffing levels for the two departments, detailing core responsibilities and support employees, while also indicating the number of outstations per department and the number of those outstations managed by staff in salary grades C1, D4, D3, D2, and D1 within each department. Mr Khan also wanted to know why the DIS had more officers leading outstations on C1 and D3 salary scales, while this was not the same for the DBS. 

Additionally, he requested that the minister specify the count of officers on the C1 top-notch salary scale within the departments and why employees at DBS appeared to be progressing better career wise compared to those at DIS. ENDS