As Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) readies for its weekend elective congress billed for Francistown at Adansonia Hotel this weekend, lobby lists of interested office bearers have already been bandied about.
MmegiOnline has seen some of the lists which seemingly favour the National Amalgamated, Central, Local and Parastatal Manual Workers Union (NACLPMWU) commonly known as Manual Workers Union.
The list of interested office bearers is expected to swell as some have currently chosen to play their cards very close to their chests whilst others have started their open contests in earnest.
BOFEPUSU currently has about 12 affiliates drawn from the public, private and parastatal organisations. The Manual Workers Union is the leading trade union with an estimated membership of over 35,000 members, followed by the Botswana Teachers Union (BTU), Botswana Sectors of Education Trade Union (BOSETU), Botswana Nurses Union (BONU) and others.
There has been aggressive lobbying done stealthily for the federation positions until recently when the lobby lists landed into the open. In two of the lobby lists seen by MmegiOnline, just for the top seven positions of the federation, in one list they prefer the BOFEPUSU president to come from the BTU, first vice president from BOSETU, second vice president from BONU, secretary-general from Manual Workers Union, vice secretary-general from BTU, treasurer general, BONU and publicity secretary from BOSETU.
In another lobby list, BTU is still preferred for the president, BONU for first vice president, second vice president goes to Botswana Land Boards and Local Authorities Workers Union (BLLAHWU), secretary-general still goes to Manual Workers Union, deputy secretary-general goes to BONU. BOSETU is listed for national treasurer and publicity secretary positions.
There is another complete lobby list, which shows that the Manual Workers Union is also eyeing the position of secretary for labour, which was previously occupied by veteran trade unionist Johnson Motshwarakgole, who is the union’s consultant. The University of Botswana Academic and Support Staff Union (UBASSU) is listed for the secretary for research and information, BLLAHWU is also listed for the secretary of occupational health. The Botswana Hotel, Catering, travelling and tourism sector is listed for secretary for gender and women’s affairs whilst the General Workers Union is listed for the secretary of youth and culture.
There are circulating reports that the BOSETU secretary-general who also doubles as BOFEPUSU secretary-general Tobokani Rari, who has been the federation secretary-general for the past 10 years, has personally decided to throw in the towel. Rari’s decision to be unavailable in the impending elective congress has heightened speculation that his move might see the emergence of the Manual Workers Union’s Robert Rabasimane, who is currently the deputy union CEO, stepping up to the plate and possibly fitting into Rari’s big shoes as indicated in the lobby lists.
In an interview with MmegiOnline today, Rari was adamant that he was not contesting for the federation elections over the weekend. “I feel I have played my part as a trade unionist and I should therefore, give others a chance and focus on other things,” Rari said in an interview stressing that in his view, there are people who can do even better.
He however, indicated that BOSETU was yet to meet as a union and come up with a position as to which position in particular, the union was targeting. His explanation was that at BOSETU they believe in deploying their cadres to the federation. “At BOSETU, I have made my point that I will not be available this time around. Yes, BOSETU might show interest in other positions and at this juncture, I don’t have an idea where they will show interest,” he explained.
