The Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) has called on the Director of Public Service Management (DPSM) Carter Morupisi to resign. The call for Morupisi’s resignation comes at a time when he is expected to address public servants countrywide on among other things conditions of service. BOFEPUSU Deputy Secretary General, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa said in statement that the union has called for Morupisi’s resignation because he has failed the nation and the public service. “We call on his principals to relieve him of his duties as he has failed the nation and public service.
We say this because the current Director of DPSM has failed to bring motivation and inspiration within civil service and he seems to be bankrupt when it comes to his vision for public service as the morale and state of labour relations is at its lowest in the history of the country. We are of the view that he continuously misleads cabinet or the Government on issues of labour relations so as to appear as a good boy of the system,” said Motshegwa. Contacted for comment, Morupisi said he was not in position to comment because he had not seen the statement. “I haven’t seen the contents of the statement, so I can’t comment on something that I haven’t seen,” he said. Motshegwa said their statement was prompted by reports that Morupisi will address public servants at a time when negotiations for 2013/14 salary talks are ongoing. “We herein make a response regarding a tour by the Director of Directorate of Public Service Management as per the released schedule. What is greatly perturbing about this tour is that in his meetings the Director will be talking among others about conditions of service at a time when salary negotiation are ongoing at the Public Service Bargaining after being protracted by the Government for almost two (2) years,” said Motshegwa.
Motshegwa added that “The Director seems to be determined in his antics to bypass and disregard the Bargaining Council and unilaterally alter conditions of service as he has been doing recently with Remote Area Service Allowance (RASA), overtime of nurses, teachers.” The Union urged all workers to ignore invitations to attend the meeting as they are politically motivated meetings to deceive workers into thinking that the employer or the Government has the workers interests at heart. “If the Director thinks he has something good for workers then he must do so through established structures of collective bargaining, because for him to address employees on issues ongoing before the Council is a clear contempt of the Council that we are prepared to deal with dedicatedly,” said Motshegwa. He said it is the sacred role of the Federation “to end this dispensation of unilateralism on issues of employees’ welfare at a time when collective bargaining is allowed by statutory instruments.”
