Hlabano said this when giving the words of encouragement during the official opening of the P2.3 million BOSETU Francistown branch office over the weekend. Hlabano, who is now the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Institute for Labour and Employment Studies (ILES), said it is very common for some former union leaders in the country to want to influence the decisions of those who succeeded them. Hlabano said the situation is not only limited to unions but has even pervaded the political landscape of Botswana. Currently, there is a theory doing the rounds in the country’s political arena that the fallout between President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor Ian Khama was partly caused by the latter’s appetite to influence how the former should govern the country. “Every situation has its own challenges. One of the most interesting things about BOSETU is that when the term of office for its leaders come to an end, these leaders leave office and handover to those who succeed them and don’t meddle with how their successors should lead the union unless their advice is sought. This is one of the most interesting features of former BOSETU leaders that distinguish it from some unions in Botswana,” said Hlabano.
Hlabano also stated that this disturbing trend has also found its way in some political parties in Botswana although he did not mention any party. He also urged labour movements to stake their claim in the economic development of Africa. “Trade unions have played a key role in the liberation of Africa but after that we saw them not taking an active role in the economic liberation of Africa rather have delegated it to politicians. Africa is not economically independent, which means that labour movements should play a part in the economic development of Africa. Labour movements have the power to dilute the influence of politicians. Unions should set up businesses to play a part in the development of the economy. BOSETU should continue to acquire more offices such as this one to empower Batswana. You should strive to improve the welfare of your members,” said Hlabano.
Meanwhile, the secretary-general of BOSETU, Tobokani Rari, stated that the opening of the Francistown office was a strategic move by BOSETU. “We increase and develop the footprints of BOSETU across Botswana. The opening of this office is a continuation of a move by BOSETU to open modern offices across the country. This time around, we developed our own office to improve our balance sheet. We took a decision to open this office because we were concerned by the high rentals that we were paying on a monthly basis. The opening of the office means that our members will get services nearer to them. We will in future also open our own offices in Lobatse, Tsabong and Letlhakane to reduce the distance that our members travel to access services where we have offices. We have also embarked on recruiting new members from tertiary institutions. We recently entered into a recognition agreement with the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), Botswana Open University (BOU) and the Botswana Society for the Deaf (BSD) after obtaining more than one third threshold of employees in these institutions,” said Rari.
