In return, they want government to waive the 'no work no pay' clause in the strike agreement and to reinstate the dismissed essential service employees. We take this opportunity to applaud the sign of movement in the negotiations, which seemed dead and about to be buried last when government unilaterally 'decided' to suspend talks. The decision by the unions to climb down from 16 percent to three percent should send a clear message to government. It should be a sign that the striking workers and unions are not thugs, as purported by some powerful people in government. These are human beings who love this country the same way as their bosses do.
In fact, nobody should claim to be more patriotic than the other. Reports that government officials are traveling the world looking for health workers and doctors, to replace the sacked ones are indeed disturbing. We wonder how a country that has been struggling to produce 10 doctors a year can fire over 60 medics and 500 nurses. The first thing that we should be worried about is where a government, that claims it is broke will get the colossal sums to hire and pay expatriate health professionals who do not come cheap. We are worried that President Ian Khama claims to be worried at the levels of poverty in the country and yet he can approve the sacking of over 1,900 people at a go. We now understand that his is not a concern about poverty, but a personal campaign aimed at acquiring the sympathy of the poor who for years have been denied important information by government in a bid to manipulate them during elections by the ruling party.
