Under Pressure BOPEU Must Put House In Order

Labour unions are a necessity for employees across all sectors of the economy, but ironically, controversy seems to haunt unions, not just in Botswana, but in other countries as well.

Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) seems to have had its own share of challenges, which intensified last year when the labour organisation decided to kick out its former president, who at the time was employed as the executive chairperson of BOPEU’s business wing, Babereki Investments. Many, of course might have thought that the dust will slowly settle, even though the organisation still has a number of court cases pending, but it looks like troubled waters at BOPEU are here to stay, if the weekend’s events are anything to go by. Unexpectedly, within roughly a year, yet another attempt was made to overthrow senior members of BOPEU, including its president, Masego Mogwera.

The meeting held at Cresta Lodge, suspended the president alongside general secretary Topias Marenga, first deputy president, Martin Gabobake, deputy secretary, Kethapeleng Karabo, and treasurer general, Aba Gabaike. The five members were allegedly suspended to observe articles 53.1 and 53.2, which address issues of secondment and remuneration of office bearers (president and treasure general), as well as sanctioning the implementation of the new BOPEU structure.

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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