16 Jul 2015

Francistown’s Bank Gaborone expatriate branch manager is qualified and his work and residence permit were renewed for the reason that the company was unable to attract a suitable candidate locally.

Answering a question in Parliament on behalf of Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Thapelo Olopeng, Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture said the expatriate branch manager at the Francistown Bank Gaborone branch started work on April 30, 2015 on transfer from Ghanzi.

His academic qualifications, he said were an honors Diploma in Marketing Management, a Diploma in Financial Statement Analysis and Cross Selling with commercial banking experience spanning 18 years in Branch Management, Credit Administration, and People Management in a Commercial Banking Environment.

Moreover, Mr Olopeng said the branch manager in question had received several Gold Awards at Bank Windhoek in recognition of his achievements.

The company, he said had advertised the post on the March 15, 2009 and July 13, 2009 and it was not possible to find suitable candidates in the local market.

Further, Minister Olopeng highlighted that the applicant was granted three years’ work and residence permits which expired on January 31, 2013.The permits, he said were renewed from January 17, 2013 until January 31, 2016 for the reason that the company was unable to attract suitable skills in the local labour market.

Francistown East MP, Mr Buti Billy had asked the minister to state the academic qualifications of the manager in question and also wanted to know if there were no Batswana with better of similar qualifications.

In addition, he asked why his work and residence permits were continuously being renewed. ENDS