BDP, BOFEPUSU fight over 3% decision
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Like rival lovers, the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) and a union labour centre; Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sectors Union (BOFEPUSU) are bickering for the attention of the public servants.
This comes on the back of a cabinet decision last week to pay public servants increment arrears of 3% from June 2015 to June 2016 and another 4% from April to May 2016. The salary adjustments will be awarded to public servants who are affiliates of BOFEPUSU; being Manual Workers Union, Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), Botswana Land Board & Local Authorities & Health Workers Union (BLLAHWU) and Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU).
The union members were previously excluded from back pays as a result of a court order initiated by BOFEPUSU that interdicted the government unilateralism of the salary adjustments. The increment was made outside the ambit of the Bargaining Council. Since BOFEPUSU’s disaffiliation from the Council, the workers were owed the reimbursements. However, following the cabinet decision both BDP and BOFEPUSU have laid claim to the influence that lead to the development. While BOFEPUSU claims that it was consequent to a protracted battle between BOFEPUSU and Government over salary negotiations and the functionality of Public Service Bargaining Council, BDP believes otherwise.
BDP Secretary General Mpho Balopi insisted with a grin this week that it is his party that took a resolution to cushion relations with workers by paying them the 3% from 2015 to 2016 in the form of back pays. “As I told you last time here when we were coming from the 2017 Tonota congress, BDP have the interest of Batswana at heart including the government workers. I would like to highlight to you that, at our Tonota congress recently there was a motion on the floor that requested that the public servants be paid the 3% as back pays,” Balopi said.
He added that following that motion, “just yesterday cabinet took a decision to pay the government workers from April 2015 the 3% back pays.” Balopi emphasized to the journalists that the union federation, BOFEPUSU went to court to interdict the 3% at the time, and lost the case, adding that they later disaffiliated from the bargaining council, ultimately affecting the operations of the latter. “So as a ruling party, which also have Batswana at heart and in particular the public servants, we took a decision influenced by Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Eric Molale after his nationwide tours to consult public servants who demanded they be re-imbursed the dues.”
According to Balopi, the motion at the BDP congress meticulously assisted the cabinet to reach the decision to pay the workers in line with their interests. “So jaanong, bangwe (BOFEPUSU) ba intsha bo majapolaelo jaaka re bala mo dipampiring (Others [BOFEPUSU] want to claim they are the ones that influenced this decision as we have learnt through the newspapers). They even wrote a letter to say that, with immediate effect, the public servants should be paid and the amount backdated. And they said this after the congress and after the press conference which we addressed here. It’s very important to note this,” Balopi maintained.
The BDP SG emphasized that the payment of government employees’ salaries is purely a decision by the BDP and the party did not necessarily endure any pressure from anyone including BOFEPUSU. “So these kinds of people should be taken with a pinch of salt, whether they genuinely respect the rights and interests of the workers, which I doubt it is. I only think that it is due to their political motivation like they have shown their colours previously when they endorsed opposition Umbrella for Democratic (UDC) during the build up to 2014.” “As we have said before, it is not all public servants that oppose the ruling BDP. We believe that Batswana who understand that our party is inclusive will continue voting for the party at the polls,” he continued.
He also declared: “and re tlaa tswelela ntse re ba direla tse di molelo le rona gore re ba ithatise le rona, hela jaaka bone bale (BOFEPUSU) baba ithatisa le bone ka go tlhoka go bua boammaruri le go dira dilo tse di hapogileng mo tseleng gore di utluse batho botlhoko ebile di ba gogomose maikutlo gore ba helele ba bona gore party ee busang ga se e ba ka nnang le bokamoso mo go yone( We too will continue to sweet talk them like BOFEPUSU so that they don’t lose trust in our party).”
Balopi stressed that it is the BDP who urged the government by way of also speaking to Minister of Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Eric Molale and Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Kenneth Mathambo and, they both agreed to assist in this regard and so we thank them. “They acted swiftly to address this issue which emanated from the BDP congress.” Meanwhile, on their part BOFEPUSU are also petting themselves on the back for pushing government to pay the workers their dues and basking on the credit.
Speaking to WeekendPost, BOFEPUSU Deputy Secretary General Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said they have noted attempts to politicise the whole process by BDP by making it seem as if the party acted in good thought for the workers. He said: “we suspect that the Directorate of Public Service Management’s evasion of the matter by avoiding BOFEPUSU is premised on agreed strategy of the back pays paid as it was with the mercy and grace of BDP political expediency.”
If the BDP Government is serious about mending relations with Trade Unions/workers, the BOFEPUSU leader said, then they better do it objectively and honestly, not when they engage in wicked scheming. He said this in light of the sentiments by BDP Secretary General Balopi. “Members of BOFEPUSU Unions know very well that they are entitled to the back pays as the 3% had been tabled at the Bargaining Council while the 4% was for all Public servants. Therefore, members of BOFEPUSU Unions will not be tricked with this short sighted ill thought strategy of the BDP.”
In all this, Motshegwa said Directorate of Public Service Management should be careful enough not to render itself to be seen as subcommittee of BDP, something that will cause it to lose the trust of labour relations partners/stakeholders such as Trade Unions.
He pointed out that mending relations with Trade Unions should entail transparent, objective, productive engagement with leadership of Trade Unions, and not “such mafia scheming of trying to hoodwink workers for workers are far more consciousness and vigilant than that”. “The BDP never learn, as they are still using the same approach of 2011 that led to the historic 2011 Industrial action that torments the BDP to this day and will many years to come,” he concluded.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.