Rival BOPEU factions each submit lists for Babereki investments AGM
Rival Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) factions have each submitted lists for the Babereki Investments Annual General Meeting (AGM) slated for Palapye end of April 2021, prompting a faction led by Olefile Monakwe to rush to Court on urgency and crying foul.
Just when Monakwe’s faction thought it would have the singular honor to submit the list for the AGM to the Babereki Investments board, Topias Marenga and Masego Mogwera, buoyed by November 2020’s three Judges panel which found that they were illegally toppled, wrote to Babereki Investments board on behalf of shareholders, BOPEU, submitting the list. Monakwe’s faction would also submit theirs, meaning the board has two sets of lists for the AGM.
This week Monakwe’s faction filed an urgent matter before Justice Mokwadi Gabanagae, key among others praying that Mogwera be removed from Babereki Investments instantly while the Non-Bank Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) deals with her for what he claims is failure to manage the company prudently.
The decision to accept the list from Marenga is cited as evidence of poor management as it was the Monakwe faction that went to Court calling for urgent holding of the company’s AGM. It is not the first time that Monakwe’s faction approached the
Courts seeking to have Mogwera punished by NBFIRA. They did so last year before Justice Jennifer Dube, as well as at the Court of Appeal last month before the three Judges panel led by Judge President Ian Kirby, where they prayed to have Mogwera punished for the delayed 2019 AGM which matter did not see the light of the day nonetheless.
The decision by Mogwera’s faction to play hard ball and assert itself as being in charge of the union has made the anticipated AGM’s outcome even more unpredictable now especially with regard to the fate of Mogwera, and several of her directors who looked destined for removal in the event that Monakwe’s faction takes control of the Babereki Investments AGM.