Ministry, BHC sign performance agreement
Ministry of Lands and Housing (MLH) and Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) on December 4th 2014 entered into an agreement known as the shareholder compact, which is a mandatory corporate governance practice tool that binds all the parastatals to perform to their expectations.
This compact is a performance contracting instrument between the shareholders and the Parastatals designed to monitor performance of the public Enterprise sector in Botswana and facilitate alignment of parastatals to their line ministries.
Speaking at the signing ceremony held at Cresta Lodge in Gaborone, the newly appointed Minister of Lands and Housing, Hon Prince Maele on behalf of the government said that government assigned PEEPA to fully evaluate the performance of parastatals. He added that the evaluation on its own had revealed a number of issues such as unsatisfactorily performance, slow up-take of corporate practices as well as inadequate coordination in the delivery of services
“The government shareholder compact will clearly articulate the strategic intent of the shareholder to parastatal as well as the parastatal’s strategic objectives, performance indicators and targets,” said Maele.
Maele further said that the agreement will outline the undertakings by the ministry and the board for successful execution of the mandate and also align performance expectations of the parastatal with ministry strategy for effective monitoring.
The Minister added that he believes that the government now expects BHC to subscribe to the overarching good corporate governance principles of fairness, responsibility and transparency in all operations.
BHC board chairperson Dr Bolelang Pheko said the shareholder compact would give the corporation and the shareholder an opportunity to reflect on the roles for the execution of the housing delivery mandate.
Dr Pheko further outlined that the housing provision remains a great challenge due to growing demand coupled with insufficient resources. She added that various initiatives have been implemented with limited success, but the demand for housing keeps increasing.
“We appeal to the shareholder to ensure that the corporate is adequately resourced to attain the targets covered in the shareholder compact and that adequate financial and administrative resources are availed timely,” Pheko.
She stated that the corporation in its endeavor to effectively implement the compact has put in place a strategic plan that is aligned to the ministry plan and the national development plan. She added that the plan covers how the corporation will manage its risks, market and communicate its products and enhance customer care.
“The board equally accepts its responsibility to direct and guide the business of BHC in a proper manner and shall institute the necessary policies and procedures to give effective thereto,” Pheko stated.
