Rahube: Outgoing BONU president leaves a happy camper
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Tuesday June 14, 2022 06:00
After serving the nurses for five years, Rahube will finally bow out and hand over the baton to his successor on Friday during the BONU elective congress where a new committee will be appointed.
When he took over its presidency in 2016, he found the union at a crossroads as by then the leadership was refusing to hand over to the new committee but was later removed by court order.
Rahube told The Monitor that when he got elected into office, they had the vision to see their union recognised by other unions and become part of Botswana Federation of Public-Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU).
“By then our membership was 5,800, but nurses were more than 10,000. I am happy that the number has grown under my leadership, as currently, our membership stands at 9,000. This shows that nurses have started to have confidence in their union which was not there before,” he explained.
Rahube added they ensured the nurses’ welfare was prioritised by the union, which resulted in the nurses receiving uniform allowance which was new to them.
They also advocated for issues of delayed promotions which culminated into visible progression amongst nursing cadres. According to the outgoing president, they had advocated for nurses to be included in policy-making decisions as they are frontline workers.
“The Ministry of Health has also agreed to pay nurses for hours when they are on ‘Call to Duty’. During the pandemic we had also advocated for the safety of our fellow nurses and called for them to be given personal protective equipment,” he said.
Rahube said during COVID-19 they played a major role in ensuring that they save the lives of people while at the same time they were working in an environment that is not conducive.
“As BONU when the pandemic started, we called for a meeting with the Director of Health Services trying to advise them on how the country should be prepared. The ministry did not take our advice seriously and now we are headed for a disaster. When we visited some clinics in the Okavango area, we found that they did not have gowns. Also, it is not clear how they are supposed to assist COVID-19 patients,” Rahube had said.
In addition, the BONU president said a nurse at the Ramokgwebana border works two days non-stop without a break.