‘ Economy in the hands of Indians, they have captured the President’
Masisi has institutionalised corruption says BOFEPUSU
Botswana Federation of Public, Parastatal and Private Sector Unions ( BOFEPUSU) lashed out at President Mokgweetsi Masisi for attributing service delivery failures to public servants.
According to the federation, Masisi is and has always been an enemy of workers who was at the forefront of “anti workers crusade” during the 2011 public sector strike.
Following the Botswana Democratic Party ( BDP) leadership retreat last weekend, Masisi stated that the country has to look with deeper scrutiny at the key tool of governance and delivery - the Public Service - and recognise the depth of degradation therein, “for therein lie answers to implementation failures that seemed to have become a norm in the post- 90s period of “our existence as a sovereign state”.
“We find evidence of a political leadership that for the last 30 years has increasingly fallen into the clutches of an underperforming public service that has grown more robust in obstruction than in productivity. “We find an evolving culture of a democratically elected but increasingly pliable political leadership of the last three decades, held to ransom by groups of abrasive technocrats in low- productivity mode, albeit with rising incidences of corruption. “It is in our introspection that we find entrenched interests causing economic exclusion and denigration of our people, indigenous Batswana in particular, who are the lowest in the food chain, so to speak,” Masisi told the nation. These utterances upset the federation which pointed out that workers must know and
understand Masisi as deceptive, only to seek their support when he wants leadership mandate whereas deep down, he despises them. “His Government policies, posture of his cabinet, his appointed Permanent Secretaries, who are not appointed on merit, and his own utterances clearly buttress this. “Masisi has been Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration responsible for public service, Vice President and President for three years now, of the three years as President, for a year he has been running the country alone by usurping the powers of all governance institutions under the guise of SOE, it is disingenuous for him to claim not to be part of the mess he is alluding to. “If there is a mess in Government it can then be wondered why he will create a mess and want to reset it,” BOFEPUSU Deputy Secretary General Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said in response to the president’s statement. He said the fundamental question should be from whom is he reclaiming Government when he has been part of it and now at the helm of it. He said as a Federation they would like to indicate that public servants are working hard to serve this country and have served it diligently with distinction that is why Government has taken pride in boasting about progress in the country. Public servants continue to perform greatly under poor conditions of service and welfare among others, low salaries amidst rising costs of living, accommodation challenges, workplace occupational safety and health challenges and many more, added Motshegwa. “If there is something wrong, then it is the Government with its policies that subject Batswana to abject poverty, unemployment particularly amongst the youth, poor social services, poor social protection system, exploitation of workers, economy being in the hands of few particularly foreigners of Asian - Indian traces, who have captured the President. “The pronounced challenges of this country are misguided policies and institutionalised corruption by the President and those around him. “From his statement, it can be summarised that the President is clueless, lacks direction, failing to provide leadership and inspiration to the Country,” the deputy secretary general explained. The federation says it demands the implementation of PEMANDU Report Recommendations; establishment of an independent and effective Public Service Bargaining Council; review of the constitution for constitutionalisation of workers’ rights and fair labour practices; impartial and effective dispute resolution system; salary increment of public servants; and employees motivation schemes.