It is against the background of principle and respect for internal union structures that I do not only denounce but also possess no penchant relish for squaring up with other fellow comrades especially in public. As has become a norm I usually peruse through websites of Botswana mainstream media houses, to get the latest and upgrade my knowledge on trending pertinent national issues. I read with trepidation the story carried by Mmegi newspaper dated 18th May 2016, the story reads, ´BLLAHWU walking Towards Self Destruction´. Having been a member of the union I quickly scrolled my eyes down to check the author of the article, one Bolf Mohutsiwa. Tried to remember who of many comrades could be bearing the name, no one comes into my mind. I cautiously conclude it is a pseudo name, one of the charlatans, the usual suspects are hiding behind their shadows. Bolf Mohutsiwa is an imaginary fellow, it’s a ghost which does not exist in real life. But if a comrade is having genuine and contractive concerns about the union he professes to love so much why would he go to newspapers to express the fictitious concerns and yet hiding behind pseudo names. Cde Mohutsiwa´s real persona is a well-known veteran in BLLAHWU he should have come out clear and bold in thoroughly convened union structures to underscore his concerns, he is fake and so are the issues he purports to raise.
It appears the fellow is still attempting to recuperate from the BULGSA hangover, these are the old comrades who vividly regret the transformation of BULGSA into BLLAHWU, they have only known the former the latter belongs to the young Turks not them. Reminiscent of the good old days from the said article it is complicated to pick what really is wrong. BLLAHWU in the current form as compared to BULGSA except that we all know that the latter came in 2007 subsequent to Parliament passing the Trade Union & Employer´s Organisation Act. Accepting that we are living in the era of trade unions not associations is a bitter pill to swallow for this comrade. He is steadfast in alleging that members are leaving the union in droves as they see no reason to continue their membership, conveniently he chooses to leave it open without substantiating what his records are depicting. He continues not to even mention the droves who are newly joining the union every day. The nature of trade unionism in Botswana especially in the public sector is highly competitive, there are several factors which influence the total union density and why workers chose certain unions and not some together with some workers are not union members. It is too simplistic to utter words of union losing members without necessarily telling the public how many members and how many joined under a specified period of time. Drawing from Secretary General´s report that was presented at the February Annual General Meeting, union membership was at about 13,000 with fluctuations emanating from administrative reasons across ministries where BLLAHWU recruits mostly. The membership grew from 9,000 in 2009, to 12,000 in 2011. And Cde Bosh does see this as conspicuous growth. Most importantly the union has seen significant growth when other public officers from central government joined the union. The fluctuation of union membership numbers is a common phenomenon across all trade unions. Actual figures do not lie, BLLAHWU continues to grow in leaps and bounds, not only in numerical expansion but also in resilience and capacity to assist grievances on welfare and labour disputes affecting the members at all levels. This is a unique feature about BLLAHWHU which is rare and foreign to other unions.
