Unions mobilise over 900 officials against Molale

Staff Writer | Monday August 17, 2015 12:35

Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), National Amalgamated Local, Central Government and Parastatal Workers Union (NALCGPWU) and Botswana Sectors of Educators Trade Union (BOSETU) mobilised some 923 civil servants to see to Molale’s defeat.

Throughout last week BOSETU and BTU held mass meetings with teachers in a drive to block Molale from coming out the winner at the polls.

Information gathered by The Monitor also indicates that unions funded transportation of hundreds of civil servants who were legible to vote, but are based outside the constituency.

A member of the union revealed on Friday that they had booked flights for voters from Kasane, Francistown and Maun. 

He said they had also taken up many of the lodges in Gaborone for voters, who were then transported to vote for the Umbrella For Democratic Change (UDC) candidate, before being flown back. So confident of victory were the union officials that they estimated Molale would lose by a margin of 2,000 or more votes. tand why they have brought me here today instead of letting me bury my son.”

 

She said she had the right to bury her son because he was not married.

She added: “I have no place of stay in Letlhakeng. I stay in Molepolole but the decision to bury him here was that we agreed that, in Molepolole we did not have enough resources there so we opted for Gaborone.”

She said Tshoswane’s children had agreed to bury their father in Gaborone but changed their minds on Wednesday, complaining that they were not involved in the funeral arrangements.

“That is where the chaos started and everyday they would come and cause common nuisance until they served us with the  papers in the wee hours of the burial,”she said.However one of the deceased’s children, Kgalalelo said they wanted their father to be - buried where they desired.

Quizzed why they waited until the last minute, Masuku said they were never taken seriously and often called ‘bana ba dinyatsi’ whenever they offered suggestions.

Masuku said they asked someone in Letlhakeng to host a funeral.