BDP failing to provide political leadership

COVID- 19 has exposed the fallacy and empty promises of strategies such as “The Economic Trickle Down Effect” that has been the main anchor of the development policies of the ruling BDP

The COVID- 19 pandemic has sharply exposed the failure of the ruling party to provide political leadership in guiding formal sector employers to put in place social protection measures for shielding the livelihoods of workers under unforeseen social upheavals. Botswana Congress Party ( BCP) Labour Secretary, Lebohang Letsie said the pandemic has also exposed the unpreparedness of government and formal sector employers in situations that demand urgent roll out of disaster management mechanisms in order to protect jobs and livelihoods. “Yet again we lament the missed opportunities, because government has for decades rejected or ignored the many calls from workers’ unions and opposition parties on issues of employment creation, protection of workers and a roll out of a compulsory living wage,” Letsie said when giving a solidarity message on Workers Day. “If government and formal sector employers had paid attention to securing the basic work conditions of workers; if government and formal sector employers had had a genuine desire to strengthen collective bargaining forums; if government and formal sector employers had had a less self- serving agenda to weaken the power of workers; if employers, the political elite and top officials in government had curbed their appetites for generating corrupt personal benefit and profit making; if government and employers had effected a living wage; if government had transformed the informal sector into a well- funded and respected catchment area for job creation and self- employment, then the year 2021 would not have had such a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of workers,” she said. The labour secretary pointed out that all that can be done now is to look back with anger and sadness at the many lost and squandered opportunities that could have been used to createsustainable, secure and decent jobs and averted the gripping impact of Covid- 19 pandemic. She said the BCP still reiterates its unfailing political commitment to standing with the workers in their unending fight for social justice and economic transformation. This year in particular, calls for increased solidarity and political will as it sharply brings into focus the plight of workers whose living conditions and job security have been decimated by the COVID- 19 pandemic. She pointed out that the pandemic has not only brought the economies of developing countries to their knees but has also destroyed jobs and livelihoods, forcing many workers into the already overcrowded, unrewarding and ignored informal sector. “Many workers, particularly frontline workers, have succumbed to the virus pandemic, leaving many of their families destitute and gravely insecure. “Many workers who have survived the pandemic have experienced the hardship of retrenchment, salary cuts and forced unpaid leave as workplaces reel under the unrelenting impact of COVID- 19. “In a world where governments and employers stuck to the dictates of neo liberalism and thus failed to pay attention to the basic demands of employment creation, decent work and job security, Covid- 19 has exposed the fallacy and empty promises of strategies such as ‘ The Economic Trickle Down Effect’ that has been the main anchor of the development policies of the ruling BDP”, Letsie lamented. She said as the country commemorated Workers Day under these heartbreaking conditions of alienation, neglect and greed, BCP pays homage to frontline workers who died from the ravages of the COVID- 19 pandemic. “We also salute teachers and healthcare workers who are confronted with the reality of the pandemic on a daily basis,” she said, adding that these workers must be held up as our unsung heroes and the best versions of who we can be as a nation.