Public sector implementation in Botswana

Abstract

Similarly to other developing nations, Botswana is working towards the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDG‟s) and its longstanding national vision called Vision 2016. One of the pillars of Vision 2016 is development. In an endeavour to achieve the aforementioned principle, the government of Botswana is constantly initiating new projects that are aimed at the development and improvement of citizens lives. Although the government initiates significant projects for the development of the country, most projects fail to achieve successful completion. The study took a case study approach about a governmental department which deals with implementation of public projects. This study focuses on public sector project implementation in Botswana paying particular attention to the Project Implementation Division in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology. The study investigated the control and monitoring approaches in project management used by the Project Implementation Division during implementation of government project under their office and compared them to industry best practices. The research tool used to obtain data was a questionnaire which was hand delivered to target research participants. The questions were open and close ended subdivided into sections which covered biographical details, prerequisites for project implementation and control and monitoring methods. The study found training in Project Management to be very much lacking in current Project Managers as well as lack of well-resourced Project Management Office (PMO) entrusted with the management of public projects. The study concluded with recommendations on how public projects can be effectively and efficiently managed and implemented including recommendations for future research.