BIUST loses court case
Correspondent | Friday March 31, 2023 14:37
The matter involved a Shop Steward at Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and the management of the institution.
The judgment threw out with costs, an application by the BIUST management. Through the suit the university wanted to be granted an order to muzzle the BOSETU Shop Steward, preventing him from whistleblowing some alleged malpractice involving the Vice Chancellor, under the pretext that the information was confidential.
The BOSETU Shop steward at BIUST had earlier written a letter to the Chaiperson of University Council Human Resource Committee and the Council Chairperson alerting them of several allegations bordering on maladministration surrounding the office of the Vice Chancellor, which included the following, that; the Vice Chancellor is alleged to be occupying two houses as his official residential accommodation, one of which is rented by the University for a sum of close to P25 000.00, and is said to be a guest house, contrary to what is provided for in his contract.
The Vice Chancellor is alleged to be seeking to access the benefit of furnishing and appliances to the value of P400 000.00 from an expired contract.
The University is alleged to have purchased a motor vehicle worth P1 829 000.00 for the Vice Chancellor, an amount that is much in excess of the stipulated limit in his employment contract,
The University is alleged to have purchased beverages for the Vice Chancellor from Liquorama Bottle store with the purchases dating from the expired contract to the current in the amounts of P26 470.40 and P59 025.70 respectively contrary to his employment contract.
The Vice Chancellor is alleged to have applied for the position of Full Professor in the Earth and Environmental Science within two years of his current contract contrary to the Revised and Approved Statutes
Instead of the University Council investigating the alleged maladministration, the university turned its blazing guns against the Shop Steward by suspending him pending investigations for what they said was possessing confidential information. The Shop Steward in turn, sought refuge from his union and divulged information about his predicament including the contents of the letter he authored to the Chairperson of the Council containing the alleged malpractices.
The union made several attempts to seek an audience with the university management including with the University Council Chairperson, and the university rejected all union requests. An appeal to the Minister of Education & Skills
Development could not bear any fruit either.
BOSETU then, on 1st March 2023, addressed a Press Brief in which they shared some information with the public about BIUST including the alleged corrupt practices at the institution.
It is then that the management of BIUST rushed to court to try and conceal the information stated at 3.1 to 3.5 by asking the court to declare it confidential and also muzzle the BOSETU Shop steward from further sharing the information with third parties.
The court in dismissing the university’s application stated that “the respondent’s release of the confidential information to members of the council was for the purpose of investigation of the alleged impropriety, and to the union, for purposes of advice and possible representation.” The court further states that “The disclosure in my view, is one protected under the whistleblowing provisions. This is one case where, I think, the public interest in whistleblowing must trump the employer’s interest in maintaining confidentiality.”
BOSETU finds this judgment to be very progressive as it has made a fundamental and landmark pronouncement, that public institutions cannot hide behind confidentiality clauses to bar whistleblowing in order to conceal maladministration and some corrupt practices.
“We believe that the University Council failed in its duty to direct, govern and set desirable ethical behaviour that is necessary to ensure the integrity, long time survival and effective corporate governance of this public institution”, said BOSETU.
Further said the union, “We as a consequence, call upon the Minister of Education & Skills Development Dr. Douglas Letsholathebe to institute an investigation on the alleged rot at BIUST and / or the Council to institute an independent forensic investigation”.