How BNF YL election was won and lost
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MAHALAPYE: Richard ‘Motsabakedi’ Khumoekae came out the man on top in the Botswana National Front Youth League (BNF YL) election, ending months of simmering tension, fears of a factional haemorrhage and anxiety over what will become of the youth wing.
Khumoekae was contesting BNF YL Presidency against Kago Mokotedi.
Congress proceedings which were billed to start Saturday morning went about in the most erratic of ways.
By 7PM Saturday, delegates had not eaten breakfast, official congress rites such as solidarity messages were done evening Saturday while delivery of treasurer’s report and passing of resolutions never saw the light of day.
There were even doubts as to whether the previous BNF YL committee had been formally and properly dissolved.
The abdication of responsibility by those in charge also appeared to continue after BNF leader Duma Boko had officially opened congress.
After Boko had opened Congress, voting, which was supposed to continue after evening meals, at around 7PM never took off.
Previous league president Kemmonye Makatane was nowhere to be seen and was said to not be taking calls on his mobile phone. His then deputy who is also Gaborone City Mayor Kagiso Thutlwe had also ‘disappeared’, leaving a power vacuum that left delegates hung in confusion.
The Khumoekae lobby group smelled a rat. They suspected that the Mokotedi lobby which was dominated and pushed by previous Youth League committee members was seeking to either cause the election to be suspended to a later date, buy time to register delegates at a time when elections were supposed to be commencing and that they were in cohorts with the delegate registering committee as well as the BNF National Executive Committee (NEC), appointed election board.
At 2am Sunday; in the ensuing power vacuum, where the election hall had turned into a dance party of sorts, lobbyists associated with Khumoekae sought to give election overseeing powers to congress. They took charge of the podium and engaged in a selection of individuals from the floor to oversee the election.
The two lobby groups had reached deadlock. Khumoekae had wanted election board member Kwenantle Gaseitsewe to withdraw, reasoning that he was a conflicted man. It emerged the reason was Khumoekae had ‘quarrelled’ with Gaseitsewe a few weeks before the election and the latter had penned a letter threatening to sue the former as he felt that he had been slandered.
Attempts to bring together the two factions were botched in a background of tight rope walking tension. Mokotedi and Khumoekae could not agree on what was to be done next.
The former wanted congress to continue with the presiding election board as he felt that it’s scrapping would be undermining the powers of the NEC while the latter felt that power was now in the hands of Congress. He wanted election overseers to be selected from Congress as he felt the system was littered with Mokotedi sympathisers.
Members from the two lobby groups were now at each other’s throats and sporadic fist fights which at this point did not involve lobby group members, but nevertheless undermined Congress security, would occasionally erupt in the voting hall.
In the ensuing chaos, it was then decided that elections will commence Sunday morning at 6am.
All the while, by all accounts, the Khumoekae lobby was formidable on the ground, shored up by the militating and all powerful Kgalagadi/Gantsi regions’ delegates while the Mokotedi lobby lacked a strong show on the ground, perhaps because a mass of his people had camped at a different venue.
Many felt the Mokotedi group was scheming to steal a mandate. A combination of botched Congress arrangements including lodging for delegates, timely serving of meals and the continued dilly dallying, which left delegates in the lurch, at the height of winter tilted delegate sympathy to the side of Khumoekae.
Some believed that Khumoekae was encircled, as a large chunk of recognisable previous youth league members were openly allied to the Mokotedi lobby while others were seeking re-election in his lobby. They also felt that if elected the Mokotedi lobby will be an extension of the previous Youth League committee, whose unpopularity out rightly emerged at the Congress.
Also, the fact that Khumoekae was said to be a perpetual victim of the opposing lobby, said to have been defeated in dubious ways in the 2012 Thamaga Congress and subsequently ‘pushed out’ of contesting the Village Council ward in Gaborone Central which was contested and won by Kagiso Thutlwe, in the 2014 general election did not help matters.
Furthermore, the Mokotedi lobby had hogged an image of flamboyance and ostentation. They had lodged at a separate venue from the rest of Congress goers. Their camp at Flowertown Primary School had quickly earned the moniker, ‘Dubai’.
They had also hired services of identically branded coaches from a local transportation magnate and they were generally believed to have been well-heeled and their delegates well-fed, who added to the indignation as meals Congress provided meals were scarce.
Khumoekae however had the blessings of Gantsi North and South, Kgalagadi North and South Constituencies and Jwaneng-Mabutsane constituencies; a powerful and militating swing bloc of constituencies that is feared for determining the direction of elections in the BNF.
The region had previously bestowed one of their own; Kemmonye Makatane in the BNF youth league Presidency in the 2012 Thamaga Congress. A youth from the region was also being given a Sports and Culture post in the Khumoekae lobby.
Voting proceedings had not started by 6AM Sunday morning as promised. At 10AM both lobbies and Congress agreed that two individuals be selected from both lobby groups while another two will come from the election board and some calm momentarily prevailed while tension, suspicion and extra alertness never left.
At around noon Sunday, fist fights ensued over ballot box stuffing accusations, with the suspicious Khumoekae lobby leading the charge. In the ensuing furore, a confrontational Khumoekae sympathiser stormed the election door manned by two strongmen, lunging at election officers.
Afterwards both Mokotedi and Khumoekae settled to call their lobbies to order and a decision to bring in the Botswana Police was reached while the militating and song singing Khumoekae lobby group was restrained.
At one point the melee, a passing Khumoekae was celebrated by the crowd while Mokotedi was jeered and heckled.
Voting started Sunday afternoon and by then delegates from both camps had left without casting their votes. Voting continued into the night without further incident.
By early Monday morning when election results trickled in, they confirmed many congress goers’ opinion that Khumoekae will emerge victorious. The Khumoekae lobby members were winning positions without break, all with a safe margin of over 200 votes while Khumoekae himself defeated Mokotedi with 457 to 240 votes.
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BPS, Mosala Funeral Parlour butt heads over SA national remains
A squabble has broken out between Pule Mosala Funeral Parlour and the Botswana Police Service (BPS) over the remains of a South African national who has been in the Mosala mortuary for more than nineteen months. The deceased was one of 10 suspects who were controversially shot dead during a lengthy shootout with law enforcement authorities in Gaborone’s Phase 2 early last year.
The deceased individual’s family based in Soweto, has encountered difficulties in repatriating the body which has been in the care of Mosala Mortuary Services. Following the incident, it has emerged that all 10 bodies were transported to PFG mortuary in Lobatse for a brief period while the police attempted to locate their next of kin. It is reported that the families of the deceased were eventually identified and informed to come and identify their loved ones, including other South African nationals who were part of the criminal group. These families also witnessed the autopsy procedures conducted at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone.
Except for the family from Soweto, nine of the bodies were claimed and taken by their separate relatives. The Soweto family claims they lack the resources to bring the body back to South Africa and has made it known that they are looking for money. To end the supposed verbal agreement over the body’s storage for repatriation, Mosala Funeral Service has filed a case against the police at the Lobatse High Court.
According to Keakantse Mmotlhana, the company’s Sales and Marketing Manager, 10 people who were killed in Phase 2 by gunfire were all temporarily transferred to one of PFG’s branches in Lobatse by the police while efforts were made to find their next of kin. She expressed outrage at the statement made by the Minister of Defense and Security, recently.
After Assistant Police Commissioner Dipheko Motube called her office to apologize for giving the Minister wrong information during a news conference, she confirmed that they had accepted the apologies. He made it clear that one of the victims was still at Pule Mortuary in Lobatse.
Bushie Mosala, the director and owner of Mosala Funeral Services, confirmed that the body of a South African national has been in his mortuary for the past nineteen months. He expressed his desire for the police to remove the corpse from the mortuary, characterising the situation as a “nightmare.” He has instructed his legal team to file a lawsuit against the police in the Lobatse High Court concerning the body.
Mosala urged the acting Police Commissioner to come forward and apologize to the nation for the situation, asserting that the public has the right to know the truth regarding the body of the South African national, w
C -002Bhich was preserved by the police as evidence.
The South African High Commission in Gaborone had not responded to queries from Weekend Post at the time going of going to press.
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BOSETU frustrated by Gov’t new dispute winning strategy
Botswana Sectors of Teachers Union (BOSETU) has expressed alarm over a troubling trend by the government. Tobokani Rari, Secretary General of the BOSETU, stated that it appears that these days, whenever there is a dispute between workers and the government, the administration is fast to run to the courts to attempt and muffle unions.
“This is quite disturbing development, we have seen it with the Botswana Doctors Union, there was a disagreement over the shift allowance, government rushed to court, they indeed got order that was saying the doctors should go and do the work. We have seen it with the nurses, they rushed to court they got the order, we are now seeing it with the teachers, they rushed to the court and they got what they wanted,” said Rari, who also served as the Secretary General of BOFEPUSU.
Rari raised concerns that the government’s enforcement of teacher’s work, through a court order will result in reduced classroom productivity and morale. Rari added that this situation would negatively impact labour relations and teachers emotional wellbeing due to dissatisfaction in their work places leading to persistently poor academic outcomes.
“You can get an order that forces people to work, but what happens at work, it heightens emotions, it destroys relationships and the morale goes down and productivity does. Courts and judgments don’t solve productivity issues. Productivity only comes when people are satisfied at the workplace, so if you force them to work through a court order then you may not get the maximum out of the working population,” said Rari
MESD vs BOSETU COURT CASE
“As you are aware, the Ministry of Education approached courts and they were demanding three things from the court in this case between BOSETU and the ministry. First, they were demanding that the joint letter that was written by BOSETU and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) asking members to stop doing course work because there was no agreement be declared unlawfully and BOSETU should write to its members and withdraw that letter within 24hrs. The second thing that they were looking for, was to interdict BOSETU from further issuing any instructions to that effect going forward. Lastly was that court should hold BOSETU to pay the cost of the lawsuit on a punitive scale,” Rari said.
Rari stated that the court decided to rule in favour of the Ministry of Education on all three relieves sought, that the savingram should be declared unlawful, that BOSETU should withdraw the contents savingram within 24hrs.
Court also said BOSETU should not issue any of such instructions going forward up until the case of contempt that BOSETU has taken to court, the contempt of the 2009 judgment has been decided. Court also awarded cost to the ministry on a punitive scale.
“BOSETU is a law abiding citizen and therefore we are bound by any laws and judgments that are there in Botswana and arise on the courts of Botswana hence we have complied with the order. On the 31st after the court case, we wrote to all our members and told them that the contents of that savingram as far as coursework is concerned has been withdrawn,” said Rari.
Rari said what happened in this case is that the judge decided to listen to the urgency without the responding affidavits of the opposing party, BOSETU, and went on to rule the merit of the case, which surprised the union.
“However we have been in discussion with our lawyers because if we leave things like this, we feel like we cannot leave that unchallenged. We have taken a decision to appeal the judgment,” Rari confirmed.
2023 COURSEWORK AND INVIGILATION AGREEMENT
“We would like to make our members aware that the following day after the judgment, we were able to meet the Ministry of Education and we have arrived at a conclusion that we signed an agreement that coursework rates will be increased by 5%. If court had ruled that coursework is the duty of the teachers’ means it wouldn’t have been any agreement after the court case, it tells you that the issue is still open and it is on the table. We have arrived at an agreement that there is going to be an increment on all components of coursework and invigilation,” Rari pointed out.
Rari further explained that Article 2 says union party is to submit detailed proposals on the intensity of the coursework for further engagement. Intensity of coursework means where the coursework payment starts in terms of varying from different subjects. He said the outcome based subject that are taught Maun Senior Secondary School and Moeng college which are agriculture and hotel and tourism is that ministry have agreed and acknowledge that there are some peculiarity in their coursework and therefore should be paid in line with the peculiarities that are contained in their coursework.
CONGRESS RESOLUTION
Rari pointed out the resolutions taken at the conference where the issue of application of corporal punishment was addressed. “BOSETU will issue out a memo to their members to advise them that they should not apply corporal punishment, they should leave it to be applied in line with the Education Act.”
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BMC sees red as mass buffaloes disrupt plans to supply schools
The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) which had struck a deal with the Ministry of Education to supply some schools in the northern part of the country is counting losses as mass migration of buffalos jeopardize the Commission’s plans.
Information reaching this publication shows that the beef exporter was recently given the greenlight to supply government schools with beef. According to documents seen by this publication, as a result BMC had scheduled to buy and collect cattle in the Nata-Gweta and Boteti constituencies from 11 to 17 September.
This was after BMC and the Ministry of Education struck a deal for the former to supply government schools with beef. Letters exchanged between Ministry officials state that it has been recommended to the ministry to support BMC by allowing it to supply schools with beef products.
The Ministry indicated that it was aware that some schools have contracts that are currently running with suppliers such as local butcheries.
The Ministry revealed that at the same time BMC has 256 tins of frozen quality meat at its Maun Plant.
The Ministry requested the Director-Regional Operations to appoint an officer to manage the procurement of meat for schools that do not currently have running contracts. The Ministry further stated that Modalities of collection will be arranged between the region and the schools identified.
According to the Ministry, a list of schools including the condition of their cold rooms and their number of deliveries and kilograms per week they buy should be compiled. The Ministry also requested its officials to share the list with headquarters and the acting director-Basic Education, and engage BMC accordingly to procure.
But this plan ran into trouble after it emerged that between 300 to 500 buffalos migrated from the buffalo fence area to Nata, Dukwi and Mosetse areas.
The Department of Veterinary Services sprang into acting by revising movement protocol for cloven-hoofed animals with immediate effect following buffalo sightings in zone 3b which covers Nata/Sowa, zone 3c which is around the Dukwi areas as well as zone 6a, which covers the Mosetse area, which fall under zones, 3b, 3c, 5,6a and 8.
The Department of Veterinary Services indicated that as a result, movement of live cloven-hoofed animals and their products out of zones 3b, 3c, 5, 6a and 8 were prohibited and that movement of live cloven-hoofed animals within and into these zones is only allowed for direct slaughter at licensed slaughter facilities under veterinary movement permit issued through BAITS.
The department also indicated that the movement of fresh products derived from cloven-hoofed animals such as raw milk, skins and fresh meat into these zones is also only allowed under a similar arrangement.
Movement of live cloven-hoofed animals into these zones for rearing and other purposes will not be allowed, and farmers and the general public is requested to continue being vigilant and report any buffalo sightings to the nearest veterinary office, the police or the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, the department said.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Agriculture has stated that following the press release on prohibition of movement of live cloven-hooved animals and their products in and out of Zones 3b, 3c, 5, 6a & 8, the acting Minister of Agriculture Karabo Gare, his counterpart Acting Minister of Environment, Wildlife & Tourism Mabuse Pule, acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Mr. Joshua Moloi, Director of Veterinary Services Dr Kefentse Motshegwa and other government officials visited the areas of Sepako and Dukwi respectively on a mission to consult with communities regarding the invasion of the places by buffalos.
Minister Gare alluded that they have been sent by the President of Botswana, who is equally worried by the current situation. He noted that the affected areas have a total of around 300000 cattle and if the situation goes unchecked, there might be detrimental effects on the economy of this country.
He encouraged the communities to help government going forward by reporting any spotted buffalos in their areas, emphasizing that buffalos are dangerous and can kill people and that care should be exercised at all times.
The Director of Veterinary Services mentioned that they closed the above mentioned zones to allow for testing of buffalos & cattle for foot & mouth disease. The wildlife department’s Director Mr. Moremi Batshabang assured farmers and the community that they will eliminate small clusters of buffalos found within communities and translocate larger clusters to ensure their safety.