05/06/2026
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๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
โข ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ โ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐๐ ๐, ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ง๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ง๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐.
โข โ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ง-๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฐ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฒ๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ..โ
โข ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐, ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ โ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐, ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฒ.โ
The Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions ( BOFEPUSU) has fired salvo at government, warning that political patronage and intimidation are systematically dismantling the integrity of the countryโs public service.
According to statement from
BOFEPUSU Secretary General Robert Rabasimane, the federation has noted โa disturbing pattern of political interference in the administrative work of government by politicians,โ warning that the foundational principle separating politics from administration was being eroded and replaced by โpolitical patronage, sycophancy and wanton reverence.โ
BOFEPUSU pointed to the non-renewal of contracts for senior officers on E-Scale and above as a key manifestation of this interference carried out not on performance grounds, but on what it described as โunfounded allegations of political affiliation.โ
Among the most explosive allegations in the statement is the conduct of Gaborone City Mayor, Oarabile Motlaleng, who BOFEPUSU says โsupposedly confiscated the office keys of the Town Clerk, Mr. Dan Katjinotjiwa, interfering with his daily work routine.โ
The federation did not mince words in its characterisation of the incident, calling it โnot only a direct abuse of political authority and office but an assault on the independence and the integrity of the administrative function of the city councilโ and โan unfortunate violation of public service regulationsโ that โcannot be tolerated.โ
๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ๐จ๐ฅ
BOFEPUSU took direct aim at the culture of fear being deployed against senior civil servants, warning that intimidation had become standard political currency.
โIntimidation and threats of non-renewal act as ammunition for enforcing political loyalty within the public service at the expense of merit and capability,โ the statement reads.
The federation acknowledged the political leadershipโs right to deploy senior management but insisted that such authority must be โdone with utmost fairness and devoid of prejudice to merit and regard for efficiency.โ Crucially, BOFEPUSU warned that what was condemned under previous administrations was repeating itself , stating plainly that โthe same pattern seems to continue in the new regime.โ
The federation warned that if left unchallenged, this trajectory would โdestroy morale, institutional memory, professionalism and afflicts public service delivery.โ
๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
Beyond individual incidents, BOFEPUSU raised systemic concerns about the non-filling of vacancies in local authorities, noting that โseveral councils and towns remain without accounting officers,โ a situation it said had left โgovernment functions without accounting officers whilst service delivery continues to be undermined for long.โ
The federation also flagged a growing breakdown in cooperation between Ministers, Assistant Ministers, and Permanent Secretaries, warning that overriding accounting officers โengrosses policy implementation and collapses accountability.โ
๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
To this end, Rabasimane issued a direct challenge to government, invoking the federationโs mandate to hold authorities accountable on behalf of workers and the general public โ โwho bear the consequence of toxic relations between authorities in the public service.โ
BOFEPUSU called on government to โrespect the rule of law, protect public officers from political victimization, and restore the integrity of Botswanaโs public service.โ
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