�Nothing wrong with regime change�
Gothataone Moeng | Friday May 2, 2014 17:04
He was speaking in the wake of
a last minute change of Botswana
Federation of Public Sector Unions
(BOFEPUSU)’s Labour Day
theme allegedly effected in order
to remove contentious “regime change” understones.
Reports indicate that on Wednesday night, BOFEPUSU’s
leadership changed the Labour Day
theme from “Unleashing a Progressive
Labour Agenda Through Influencing
Regime Change” to simply
“Unleashing a Progressive Labour
Agenda.” Mmegi understands the
Botswana Public Employees Union
(BOPEU) arm-twisted BOFEPUSU
into changing the theme at
the last minute, by threatening to
pull their members out of the commemoration.
BOPEU allegedly
had misgivings about the theme.
Yesterday, Majongwe, who is
secretary general of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions
(ZCTU), said there was nothing
illegal or sinister about wanting
regime. “There is nothing illegal
or sinister in us or any citizen of
any country talking about regime
change or wanting regime change,”
he said in his keynote address.
“It is within our rights to effect
regime change if we wish.”
While Majongwe said there was nothing wrong with changing the
Labour Day theme, “something
would be very wrong” if the theme
was changed at the behest of “the
oppressor”.
Majongwe said to achieve regime
change, unions needed to act
collectively. He added that unions
need to have a clear ideological
position, which can influence what
they mean when they talk about
regime change. He said often when
people agitate for regime change,
they are not quite clear on what exactly
they want to change.
“When we talk about regime
change, what are we talking about?
Are we talking about President
(Ian) Khama? Do we have an old
order? Are we clear about what we
are fighting?” he asked.