Over the last few weeks, Trade Unions have shifted a gear up to get more involved in politics.
Not only have they said they will want their members to vote as a block, they also have gone further to draw a list of people they want voted out.
It cannot be a coincidence that all those on the list happen to be Senior Ministers in the BDP government.
The last five years have indeed been very hard for Trade Unions.
Not only have they been vilified, their leaders have also been cast as irresponsible.
This, it must be remembered, is against the backdrop of a protracted public service sector strike which pitted Trade Unions on one side and the government on the other.
It is a battle that Trade Unions lost comprehensively, with high casualty cost, many of them collateral.
A key lesson for Trade Unions is to appreciate that they can no longer trust government as a partner.
At least not for now.
The government has systematically cast itself as a belligerent opponent, out to destroy unions.
The most natural thing, therefore, is for Trade Unions, especially leadership, to respond in kind.
As we speak, Trade Unions have nothing to lose.
If they cave in, Government will come out to finish them off.
Instinctively, they have to go out and try to identify those political parties that are potential partners.
That is only natural.
An advice to Unions is that, for this to work, they must not be apologetic.
All they need is to do it within the confines of protocol as espoused by the rules that determine and govern the existence of their respective organisations.
In other words, members should not be dragooned into fighting the BDP as that may backfire badly, including breaking up some of the weaker unions.
Rather, persuasion and consultation should be the rule.
It is important to note that not all BDP sympathisers or members vote for the party at election time.
Some are so unhappy with it that they vote opposition even as they keep membership.
Trade Unions are fighting a battle of survival. The next few months leading to the General Elections are going to get worse for trade Union leaders.
They are going to be targeted for harassment, humiliation and isolation.
Some of them are going to lose their sources of income as government will want to prove to the membership that Trade Unionism does not pay.
Already that has started.
It has been reported that the Director of Public Service Management has, on a number of occasions, summoned Trade Union leaders to his office reminding them that they should not make political statements.
It is not yet clear what he means by that.
By their very nature, Trade Union leaders are also political leaders.
It is only incidental that in Botswana they have been driven away from the bosom of the governing BDP.
Some of us are left wondering if this hostility would still obtain if Unions were BDP allies.
To survive, they must be resolute in their determination.
This government has proved again and again that it is hostile to unions.
It only tolerates them because they have been established by law, but also because, as a country, we still want to lay some claim to being a democracy.
Going back as to outlaw the existence of trade unions will take away all the pretensions of being a democratic and pluralistic society.
Because they have nothing to lose, Trade Unions do not have the luxury to remain neutral.
They must be clear as to which of the political parties they endorse, at least officially as a preferred one to be voted by their members.
This has own risks.
But alternatives are too dire to even start contemplating.
