BOSETU fires CEO
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday May 16, 2014 17:35
Mmegi has leant that the non-renewal of Hunyepa’s three-year contract, which expired at the end of February, has divided the multi-million Pula rich teachers’ union.
Reports emanating from Babereki House, the BOSETU headquarters in Gaborone, suggest that on February 28, Hunyepa was informed that his services were no longer needed. He was reportedly not even given a chance to prepare for a decent handover.
Just 10 minutes before knock off time, Hunyepa’s subordinates at Babereki House, witnessed their boss being ordered to pack his stuff and go.
Now it has emerged that some of the board members who initiated Hunyepa’s push are conflicted, as they are also eyeing the lucrative CEO position, which is said to reward handsomely.
Besides other perks associated with the BOSETU CEO position, Mmegi is informed that the position itself attracts a hefty salary of about P30,000 per month.
The new salaries structure at BOSETU came about following a salary restructuring exercise that was done in January this year.
Internally, BOSETU board members are accused of a tendency of wanting to be hands-on in the running of the BOSETU business, especially at Babereki House.
It has emerged that the general membership of BOSETU have also entered the fray, demanding a comprehensive explanation from their board about the CEO contractual saga, failing which, they have vowed, “not to vote them back into office next August” at the union’s elective congress.
Questions abound as to whether there is a schism within the teacher/labour movement or not. But what is uppermost in the minds of many is whether Hunyepa is a casualty of that schism.
Some are wondering as to whether during his role as the BOSETU executive secretary, Hunyepa overstepped his mark. There is a section of the union calling for a forensic audit.
Since February this year BOSETU board members have been reportedly engaged in incessant board meetings in an endeavour to resolve the Hunyepa matter without success.
Mmegi is informed that the board took a unilateral decision not to renew Hunyepa’s contract and did not offer any explanation to the concerned party about its action.
On the one hand Hunyepa is reported to have been meddling in internal politics of BOSETU as the CEO, trying to influence appointment of board members. He is also described as a loose canon that had grown bigger than the organisation.
This week Mmegi unearthed information that there is currently a tug-of-war between the BOSETU board members and Hunyepa.
Reports suggest that Hunyepa strongly feels that he has been betrayed by the comrades he trusted over the years in the service of BOSETU.
He was the BOSETU publicity secretary between 1996-2008 before he ascended to the executive secretary position, when it was still known as Botswana Federation of Secondary School Teachers (BOFESETE) .
Hunyepa has reportedly put his demands on the table calling for BOSETU to pay him his salary and benefits for three years, which is equivalent to a full contract. He has also reportedly asked to buy the BOSETU vehicle that he has been using as the CEO.
On the other hand, BOSETU has reportedly countered Hunyepa’s demands with terminal benefits, which include three months salary and the purchase of the CEO motor vehicle at a quarter of its original value.
Contacted for comment this week, Hunyepa referred all enquiries to BOSETU leadership.
When pushed further, he admitted that he was currently unemployed.
“I admit that it was a fixed term contract that has ended, but it had conditions of how it ended. There were other things to be looked at,” Hunyepa said.
He said he was proud of his “immense” contribution to the BOSETU success as an organisation boastfully adding: “My team and I took BOSETU from nothing to the multi-million organisation it is today”.
He noted that the membership of BOSETU has already hit a 14,000 mark through the efforts of his team.
Other things that shall remain indelible in his mind, that he considered to be part of his successes at BOSETU, is the one percent monthly subscription fee that he introduced and sustained at BOSETU.
BOSETU president, Shandukano Hlabano confirmed yesterday that Hunyepa is no longer in the employ of BOSETU.
He was reluctant though, to state the reasons for the non-renewal of the contract, indicating that the employer-employee relations do not permit that they discuss the contractual matter in the press.
“I am not at liberty to discuss the reasons why we have not renewed Hunyepa’s contract, as it remains a matter between the board and him,” he said.
He denied however that his board was bitterly divided over the Hunyepa case, but conceded that in every set up, people do differ on principle and finally agree over issues. Ironically, Hlabano hailed Hunyepa, “to have done a sterling job during his tenure as BOSETU CEO”, adding that “he has not done anything wrong at all”.
As to why then was Hunyepa’s contract terminated, Hlabano went back to, “I can’t discuss the reason why the board could not renew the contract in the press. We have only discussed the matter with him (Hunyepa)”.
While Mmegi has been informed that BOSETU and Hunyepa are engaged in post contract talks relating to the exit package, Hlabano again insisted that, “it’s between us and him and we can’t share anything with outsiders”.
He said it was normal for people to eye positions within an organisation, but insisted that at BOSETU they have outsourced recruitment processes to an outsider.
“We want to hire quality at the end of the day and that’s why we cast our net wider by advertising for these positions.”
Responding to a threat that BOSETU members were hell-bent on voting them out as a punishment for not communicating some of the crucial decisions, Hlabano insisted that the issue has not reached them. “I am not alive to threats that we will be punished by the BOSETU membership,” he said.