20 Aug 2017

More Power Investment Business Development director, Mr Ronald Ketshabe has commended Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) retired members for their contribution to the formulation of the trade union.

Speaking at the BTU retired members’ symposium on Thursday, Mr Ketshabe said they realised that the union had lost touch with its retired members with regard to their membership, but that they contributed a lot to the existence of the union.

The objective of the workshop, he said, was to recall BTU members who were no longer active in service so as to appreciate what they were going through after leaving the public service.

Even though the members complained of being neglected, Mr Ketshabe said the union was updating information about every member in order to build and nurture their relationship on a regular basis.

He further said the members needed to be educated on how best to invest the little that they get from their pension.

“As More Power Investments we have also decentralised our services for the members for better information accessibility.

We provide financial counselling since members are indebted due to lack of financial literacy for them to know where they are heading after retirement,” he said.

More Power Investments, a BTU wing, is into investments of members which include funeral schemes, loans and other financial issues that affect members.

The More Power Investments workshop which started on July 23 in Tsabong will come to an end in August in Kanye.

Botswana Teachers Union Funeral Fund board vice secretary, Mr Tshokologo Nkape said the funeral scheme, which was being run by More Power Investments, was formed to provide members with a dignified funeral service when they died.

“We wanted to inform you that your funeral scheme is now formally and legally recognised and registered,” he said.

Giving a vote of thanks, former Bonatla Primary School head, Ms Dorcus Sethoko commended BTU for the workshop, saying that it came at the right time since there had been a gap between members and the union.

Ms Sethoko said the workshop was an eye-opener as they now understand how best to utilise union services.

However, she said they would need another discussion with the union to help them iron out some issues.

“Most of us lack knowledge about the union and its services, they should hold workshops once or twice a year so that we become affiliated with the union,” she said.

She expressed concern about the long subscription payment process, saying the union should revisit the issue and see how best they could speed up the process. ENDS