05 Oct 2014

The leader of Botswana Congress Party (BCP), Mr Dumelang Saleshando has implored residents of Francistown to vote his party into power in the October 24 general elections.

Addressing political rallies in Francistown South and West constituencies on October 3 and October 4 respectively, Mr Saleshando said BCP was the only party that had better programmes for everybody including the workers.

He said his party had promised adherence to International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) standards. Mr Saleshando noted once his party attains power, it would ensure that just like ILO prescribes, some professions such as teaching and veterinary services were not included in the essential services cadre.

He said BCP’s government will also make sure that the living wage replaced the current minimum wage, noting that they had discovered that some chain shops that operated both in Botswana and South Africa paid their local employees less because of the lack of the living wage standard.

Mr Saleshando said according to the ILO, maternity leave was 14 weeks but in Botswana it was only 12 weeks, a thing that he said his government will rectify.

He criticized the Umbrella for Democratic Change’s (UDC) ambition of introducing flexible working hours to allow some employees to work from home, saying it will only favour technocrats because cleaners, petrol attendants and cashiers cannot work from home.

The BCP North East regional. chairperson, Mr Samuel Moribame said statistics indicated that the youth registered in large numbers, which he said was indication that they wanted change. Ends