My victory is vote of confidence- Mogwera
Lesedi Mkhutshwa | Monday December 20, 2021 06:00
She was illegally ousted as BOPEU president for 27 of her 36 months tenure, but made a comeback at the union’s elective congress that was recently held in Palapye.
Mogwera has described her comeback as a “clear vote of confidence in my leadership capabilities”.
The margin of the delegates that she polled during the congress was higher than those attained by all her competitors combined including Olefile Monakwe, her once bitter rival.
Monakwe spent 27 months as the president of BOPEU while Mogwera was in the union’s wilderness before she was reinstated by the courts of laws.
Mogwera has since extended an olive branch to her ex-rivals stating that her grand plan is to vigorously fight to improve the welfare and rights of BOPEU members and not to fight personal battles using her position.
Speaking of her recent achievement, which puts cherry on top of the cake, an elated Mogwera told Mmegi that retaining the presidency of the union means a lot of things to her personally and to BOPEU as an organisation.
Outlining her priorities going forward, Mogwera said her top priority is the welfare and interests of BOPEU members which she plans to impove by implementing robust anti-corruption initiatives in order to ward off any corrupt elements within the union who may be tempted to loot.
“Retaining the presidency through the ballot affirms the rule of law in BOPEU and sends a strong message that the union belongs to all its members and not just its leaders,” Mogwera said.
“After two years of turmoil and court cases in BOPEU, members of BOPEU took matters into their hands and restored law and order through their sacred votes.”
She highlighted that the ambition of BOPEU’s new leadership is to engage in a path of reconstruction and unity within its ranks.
This, Mogwera noted, that, it will be carried out in order to heal the divisions that occurred within the union in the past and to prevent the plundering of union assets that happened following the coup that ousted her.
She reiterated that there is a deliberate need for women in trade unions and other areas to be capacitated so that they can also reach their full potential like their male counterparts.
Mogwera said the action should be done urgently because women have not progressed like their male counterparts from time immemorial as a result of deeply held cultural practices.
On an advisory note, Mogwera urges all women who want to occupy leadership positions in any sphere in Botswana that they should be aware that they will not get those positions on a silver platter but they have to work hard and strategically to attain them.
When asked if she has any interest in joining politics in future after leaving the public service, Mogwera did not rule that possibility out.
She explained that as a community builder, she will not shy away from participating in national leadership in any capacity in future.
“I believe that trade unions are factories that make leaders. At the right time and moment probably after I leave the public service, I will consider the idea of participating in national politics. I owe it to the girl child to show her that everything under the sun is possible for her as it is for the boy child,” Mogwera said.
The BOPEU leader also expressed concern about the rising incidents of poverty and gender-based violence (GBV) in Botswana that mostly affect women and girls.
Mogwera has an illustrious background as a trade unionist. She told Mmegi that she joined Botswana Civil Servants Association (BCSA), now BOPEU, in 1996 and served as the vice secretary.
The rest as they say, is history.
Meanwhile, BOPEU secretary general, Topias Marenga, spoke highly of Mogwera.
Marenga described Mogwera as a natural born leader, intelligent, hard working and compassionate person who is ever ready to forgive people no matter how they may have wronged her in the past.
He also said Mogwera possesses good emotional intelligence skills that enables her to connect and collaborate with others adding that she is also ready to embrace the ideas of other members.