Uyapo Kgosi
16 April 2008
Francistown — The Botswana Secondary School Teachers' Union (BOSETU) on Friday made a quantum leap when it launched its new branch in Francistown, the second in the country.
Francistown deputy mayor Lamodimo Dikomang officially launched the branch, which is located at Haskins building, above Mascom Wireless offices. The branch will be home to one of BOSETU' structures - the BOSETU Funeral Scheme (BOFUS).
Speaking at a brief ceremony graced by civic leaders, teachers' unions from the SADC region and members of the business community, BOFUS vice chairperson Ledah Maphalala said BOFUS is a funeral scheme for BOSETU members run by a board of trustees.
She said BOSETU saw it fit to decentralise some of its services. Originally the processing of the scheme's benefits was done at the head office in Gaborone.
"This is a welcome development in the history of the union. We started operating in 2004 from a small office at Satellite location in Francistown, but the new one is big enough to accommodate a lot of services for the benefit of members," said an ecstatic Maphalala.
The scheme's chairperson Eric Ditau, who is also the president of BOSETU and vice president of the newly launched Association of Non-aligned Teachers' Union of Southern Africa (ANTUSA), stated that the launching of the BOFUS offices "marks a quantum leap in the history of BOSETU". He said the organisation's membership has increased over the years.
"Our intention is to continue opening offices in several regions of the country, thereby making the union's presence felt. We wish to represent the interests of an ordinary teacher and this office will facilitate services provided by BOSETU. Our members in the northern region won't be travelling long distances to Gaborone in order to access our services."
He encouraged union members and the community at large to utilise the new offices.
The new branch has many facilities, including an Internet cafe.
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