Unions dump BFTU

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Thursday June 24, 2010 00:00

 

BFTU secretary general, Gadzani Mhotsha said at a press conference in Gaborone that Botswana Secondary School Teachers' Union (BOSETU) and Botswana Teachers' Union (BTU) stopped their monthly subscriptions to protest the BFTU's delay in availing an audited financial report for 2007, 2008 and 2009.

BOSETU secretary general, Kwenasebele Modukanele confirmed the boycott, saying his union has long indicated to the BFTU leadership that it wanted to see an audited financial report. He said they cannot continue to contribute money and fail to get an account of how it is being used. 'Our members at BOSETU are interested in knowing how their money is being utilised by the federation,' he said.

Last April, government sector unions like BOSETU, BTU and Botswana Land Boards and Local Authorities Workers Union (BLLAWU) boycotted BFTU elections after trying in vain to have the polls deferred on the grounds that the outgoing officials had not released an audited financial statement.

Modukanele said after the BFTU went on with the elections against their will, they decided to withhold their contribution.

'BOSETU contributes more than P70,000 monthly which is a lot of money compared to these other small member unions. So when you pop out so much money, you would want to have a say in how it is being spent. We will not be paying up until we are furnished with a report,' he said.

BTU secretary general, Ibo Kenosi said they have withheld their monthly subscriptions for similar reasons.

'We have been forking out more than P40,000 to the federation. BFTU depends on subscriptions from member unions, so making key decisions should be commensurate with a member union's strength. That is our position. We wanted to have the elections deferred but others whose contribution is lesser than us prevailed over at the congress and held the elections without having seen an audited report,' he explained.

Meanwhile BLLAWU president, Pelotshweu Baeng has indicated that his union is considering withholding subscriptions to BFTU. He said at the moment, they have decided to distance themselves from BFTU activities. 'It is just that by January this year, we paid in advance, that is up to May. But soon, the BLLAWU central committee will meet and subsequently, the governing council to decide on withholding subscriptions,' he said. 

Mhotsha indicated that the move by the two teachers' unions (BOSETU and BTU) has hit the financially-weakened BFTU hard. The BFTU leader said that the boycott was unconstitutional and indicated that they are trying to discuss the impasse with the union leaders.

'After assessing the situation, we decided on a replacement funding or a levy, where each individual union member (not organisation but worker) will pay P60 for the whole year so that we can continue to run the BFTU which depends on the subscriptions,' he said.