Labour movement banks on Masisi’s presidency
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Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sectors Unions (BOFEPUSU) has said it is banking on Vice President Mokgweetsi Masisi normalize relations with labour when he assumes the office of the President in April next year.
The union federation said this at a press conference on Thursday whose purpose was to summarise the year 2017 as they saw it and position them-selves for the next one which will see VP Masisi installed president in April. The Federation says it is prepared to give Masisi the benefit of the doubt. Speaking at the press conference, BOFEPUSU Secretary General, Tobokani Rari said as an observation that Botswana is sliding way back on the issues of democracy and that’s the trade union’s conclusion this year as they await Masisi.
“We are looking forward for the incoming President Mokgweetsi Masisi on the 1st of April 2018 in terms of what his administration will do to reverse all those that the current president Lt. Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama did,” Rari pointed out. He waxed lyrical that Khama was a president who did not want to sit with the unions and it appears is also leaving office when he never met the trade unions despite writing to him several times asking for a meet up.
Rari continued: “so we are now looking upon the incoming president to see whether he will perpetuate what his predecessor has done that is shunning trade unions and not wanting to meet them.” On his part, BEFEPUSU deputy Secretary General Ketlhalefile Motshegwa cautions Masisi that he will inherit a rotten and arrogant civil service and therefore when he lands the highest office should start with firing Minister in the Office of the President Eric Molale, Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Carter Morupisi and top Permanent Secretaries and Directors if he wants to improve the performance and policies in the public service.
On opposition cooperation
Rari said they have witnessed amazing developments in the opposition side in particular the birth of a new party Alliance for Progressives (AP) which is a splinter of the BMD following protracted disagreements. According to Rari, opposition political parties need to really have a strong mechanism of dispute resolution to avoid what led to the split of BMD.
“The issues in the BMD were left out until it was too late to an extent that at the end it was not able to be resolved. That pointed to a weakness in our opposition that while they are waiting to take over as government probably in 2019 they should also know that there are ways in which to deal with dispute resolution.”
He said the development is a set-back in the opposition political parties agenda of trying to unseat the ruling BDP. As BOFEPUSU he said they are waiting for their conference/congress which will make a pronouncement and give a way forward on opposition support since there is a split in the parties. “They will give us a word go on it and after that will make a pronouncement on it,” he emphasised. On a different note, Rari however said UDC, which they have been supporting all along, has lost track and even became distant from BOFEPUSU. On AP he said they just started and do not know yet and how it will turn out so can’t say whether they will support them or not.
Judiciary Crisis
The BOFEPUSU Secretary General said the other issue which was of highlight this year was the crisis in the judiciary. He pointed out that the judiciary was under attack this year courtesy of the current regime of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) which did a lot of damage to the judiciary.
“It became even more glaring that the executive arm of government was encroaching into the jurisdiction of the judiciary and blaring the separation of powers when judges were suspended for flimsy reasons like on account that they failed to pay back the money (housing allowance) which they were supposed to pay back. We feel that it was deliberate as certain Judges were targeted and the excuse was used. We believe most importantly believe it doesn’t feature well in the democratic credentials of Botswana as they are slowly but surely getting eroded,” Rari insisted to the journalists.
Not only that in the judiciary but Rari also highlighted that some Judges are also facing possibility of been taken to court on the basis that they wrote and said their views about the Chief Justice and that in the event even refused to apologise, and the issue is still ongoing. “We are hearing that the Judges are under surveillance by the security apparatus of this country. This is a clear sign of interference by the executive on the operations of the judiciary,” he said.
The unionist also went on further to state that the Court of Appeal has also of recent been used as a gate keeper where cases that go against the executive are reversed or overturned at the highest court. “As if that is not enough, Khama also violated the law by refusing to appoint a certain individual in the form of Omphemetse Motumise despite the right procedures having been followed in his recruitment. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) recommended Motumise to Khama. But Khama turned him down on the basis of reasons he could not disclose although we hear he said it’s for security reasons. The matter was before the courts and they ruled in favour of Motumise but still he has not been appointed.”
In addition to judiciary concerns for the year Rari said they also took to court a matter to say they cannot deal with Judges of the Court of Appeal that have not been appointed legally or not legally constituted through legal process. He continued: “we took it upon ourselves as role players in the democratic space of this country that we need to protect the judiciary and the case came in our favour and later on a bill was taken to parliament to legitimize what has always been the case.”
More Labour laws amendments concern
The BOFEPUSU leader asserted that they are also worried by manner in which government hurried the amendments of the labour statutes as almost all are under review and in some cases these are done at a supersonic speed that make them wonder whether they are really in good faith.
For example he explained that the statutes which regulate the labour are all under review or have already being reviewed like the Trade Dispute Act (TDA), Employment Act, Public Service Act, Trade Unions and Employers Organisations. TDA, he said they amended it not to allow certain cadres to undertake industrial action in the country. That’s why we saw Botswana making it to the top 40 countries at the International Labour Conference that are regarded as violators of the core conventions of the ILO, he pointed out.
He emphasised that ILO has got a list of conventions and there are those that are regarded as core and fundamental and one of them is convention 87 and the ILO does not take lightly if it’s violated. Botswana, he added that was charged in that they violated it because they have amended the TDA and in amending it they made employees who are not within the framework definition of ILO regarded as essential services but were made essential services.
“Botswana for the first time appeared before ILO disciplinary conference to answer to the charges before the committee of applications of standards before the ILO and they were grilled, they answered by their answered proved to be unsatisfactory and conclusions were made. Their conclusion was that Botswana should go and assemble a team of tripartite and with the expert from ILO, should then start to do amendments to reverse the amendments that they have done to the TDA to comply with convention 87.”
According to Rari, this is a dent on the democratic credentials of a country and a major highlight for this year. He stressed that it happened under the watch of the BDP government and the outgoing President Khama and therefore if there is anything that he will get out of office feeling guilty of it is one of them because he allowed it to happen under his nose.
Collapse of the Bargaining Council
The BOFEPUSU Secretary General insisted that under President Festus Mogae, President Sir Ketumile Masire, Botswana did quite ok in terms of ratification of conventions and then moving towards implementing the ratified conventions because they went further in allowing legislation being amended to go hand in hand with the ratified conventions.
He continued: “but then came in Khama, we moved about 10 steps back because he made sure that conditions for trade unions became very difficult and it even became evident this year when he bypassed the PSBC and did all they could to take the trade union to court so that the PSBC does not operate to an extent that at the end the unions become frustrated and could not operate until BOFEPUSU pulled out of the PSBC.”
He also this also applied to Commissioner of Labour who following dis-affiliation of BOFEPUSU in the PSBC, last week said now that since there are no trade union parties at the PSBC, it cannot sit and therefore said to the effect that the entity should be de-registered. “So we smell ulterior motives in the conduct of government and the Commissioner of Labour in that regard,” Rari said.
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Malawi appeals for help over Cyclone Freddy at PAP
As of yesterday evening, the death toll from the Cyclone in Malawi had risen from the initially reported 190 to 225 in a short period of time, over 20 000 people have been displaced, and the worst of fears are yet to come as the fatalities continue to mount. This was reported by a Malawi Member of Parliament attending the Pan African Parliament session in Midrand, South Africa, Hon Steven Mikiya.
Mikiya was giving a statement on behalf of Malawi as the ongoing Pan African Parliament in South Africa.
Mikiya said the Cyclone has wreaked the most havoc in our country’s Southern Region. “The Southern Region, has been hardest hit with widespread heavy rains and strong winds. This caused a rapid rise in water levels and subsequent flooding. Meanwhile, power supply has been disrupted, roads blocked off and rendered impassable and mudslides have also been widely reported,” he said.
He made a special appeal to the PAP: “Where I come from, there is a parable which I would like to share with you which says, “mzako weniweni umamudziwa panthawi ya mavuto.” Simply put, a friend in need is a friend indeed or put loosely, a person who helps at a difficult time is a friend you can rely on.”
Mikiya continued: “Yes! Misfortune has knocked on our door and left in its wake a trail of death and destruction that may take years to fully recover from. However, amidst these difficulties, I have every reason to believe that sometimes when you are in a dark place and think you have been buried, you have actually been planted. My belief, Mr. President, arises out of my faith in this gathering and out of the conviction that it is not coincidental that Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi and Mozambique while the delegations of both countries are here.”
According to Mikiya, the level of destruction, the loss of life, property and the decimation of the entire fabric of established communities has been unprecedented. He noted that all this, is coming at a time when Malawi was starting to show signs of recovery from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic that also came hard on the heels of Cyclone Ana and Cyclone Gombe that left a similar trail of devastation and destruction in Malawi and neighbouring countries.
As of Sunday, this week, from the 12th of March, Malawi and Mozambique have been facing the devastating effects of Cyclone Freddy that made a landfall over Mozambique on Saturday the 11th and reached Malawi by Sunday the 12th of March.
The Malawi legislator said he has absolute faith in the Pan African Parliament, which he described as “a league of nations brought together by a shared ancestry, history, identity as well as our beloved continent which we inhabit”.
Meanwhile, Malawi President, Lazarus Chakwera, has declared a State of Disaster in the affected areas effectively appealing for local and international support for the affected families.
Mikiya appealed to the Pan African Parliament drawing “positive” inspiration from Europe which rallied around Turkey after the destructive earthquakes to bring the much-needed relief and humanitarian aid to the people of Turkey.
He said Africa should demonstrate to the world that the African Union and its Organs are not mere talk shows, but effective institutions which stand up when it matters most.
“Alone, it may take us a lifetime to fully recover, but together, in the Pan-Africanist spirit of Ubuntu, our lives and livelihoods will return to a semblance of normality in record time. This is the time to live by our operative mantra, “One Africa, One Voice.” Mikiya concluded.