Seminar by Dr Nelson Sello (University of Botswana): Botswana’s Mind Set Change as Mega Policy Shift

Abstract:

Botswana is endowed with effective policies that have made the country attain an upper middle-income status today from being the poorest at independence in 1966. Botswana, through Vision 2036 aspires to attain a Higher Income Status by the year 2036 which needs a revolutionary and transformative mindset for mega governance and policy implementation change. In this paper, I argue that the country has established a foundation towards this through His Excellency President Dr M.E.K. Masisi's clarion call for Mindset Change which we call a Mega Policy shift. While the President’s clarion call for mindset change has not been classified as a policy, it needs to be institutionalized for it to be effective. This study which follows qualitative design concludes that the current approach to mindset change in Botswana will probably yield minimal (if any) results. To rectify this, I argue that institutionalization of this mega policy should be given government priority as it will permeate the different sectors of government and improve governance within the country.

Bionote:

Dr Sello holds a PhD in Public Policy and Master of Arts Sociology both from the University of Arkansas. His undergraduate was in Economics and Sociology from the University of Botswana. His research interest is in policy, governance, and environmental change with specific reference to climate change and environmental justice. He has presented several papers at conferences both internationally, regionally, and locally and authored several research papers including most recently three policy briefs based on a joint consultancy commissioned by ARISA and carried out by the San Research Centre. He has extensive experience working at the Ministry of Agriculture where he focussed on policy research, monitoring and evaluation and impacts of government policies on rural population and the environment. He is currently a member of the San Research Centre management team. Dr Sello currently works at the Department of Sociology, University of Botswana. He teaches a variety of courses from level 100 to level 600.