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KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES IN MY CAMPAIGNJustin Hunyepa - Tati West Parliamentary candidate. Raised and schooled (primary) in Gulubane village.UDC has deployed Justin Hunyepa as a Parliamentary candidate in the Tati West constituency which is managed by BPP.As an activist, I accepted the deployment. BOSETU is in full support of my candidancy just like other unions in Botswana have supported their employees in politics before, including BTU, BLLAWHU, Manual Workers Union, etc.Unions have made attempts in the past to have a voice in Parliament but have not been successful. I will be the voice of the workers through their mandate and I need their support more than ever.Having served in several platforms as a leader at various levels and produced remarkable results for many years now, I am ready to be a legislator. I have served as a student leader, educationist, civil society activist and trade unionist. I am confident I will continue to deliver in Parliament as I have a traceable track record in advocacy and lobbying.For example, I was an SRC leader at MCE and simultaneously ran two ministries of Publicity and Justice. With support of my SRC colleagues, I took the college management (Principal, former Assistant Minister of Education, Ms Moggie Mbaakanyi), to High court twice & the cases were ultimately won. Female students who fell pregnant were dismissed by the college and we challenged this on the basis of discrimination. As we were not consulted, we boycotted MCE Open Day and the college unlawfully cut our allowances and even starved us on that day and we challenged them on the basis of human rights abuse. (Google the cases - Ministry of Education vs MCE SRC).I was a BOCONGO board member which has over 100 affiliates, which are community based. I have therefore worked with several communities and therefore capable of easily working with them to improve their welfare.As a trade unionist and teacher for 30 years now, I am proud of the successes I have recorded on this journey and am confident that I can easily advocate and lobby for the development of Tati West constituency. Some of the spirited national media campaign under BOSETU support includes:1. Campaign against transportation of students in Open Trucks until it was abolished.2. Campaign against Double Shift until it was abolished.3. Campaign Against Re-introduction of School Fees until it was reduced & renamed cost recovery, cost sharing and not school fees.4. Campaigns against the then Examination Research and Testing Division (now BEC) and subsequent 2009 case which BOSETU win.5. Campaign against public officers being subjected to half salary when on study leave and matter now won against government. 6. I am the brainchild behind the loan schemes with financial institutions which are now common amongst most unions after the 2011 public sector strike & the subsequent NO WORK, NO PAY principle.These are some of my spirited national advocacy and lobbying achievements which I intend to continue in parliament and most are available on Google. 7. I strongly feel that Tati West constituency should be developed infrastructurally and socially to reduce undervelopment and poverty. Worker issues will also be taken to Parliament as I am a trade unionist for 30 years now. 8. Youth issues, including being paid unemployment benefit are already on my menu and long proposed by UDC. The marginalized groups will also be given a voice in Parliament.9. The farmers and old age pensioners have to be recognized and their welfare taken seriously. Most of the pensioners are still productive and their wealth of experience must be taped on.10. Gender and Development issues must be amplified. I have facilitated several workshops on this subject, and the MCE case is another classic example.11. We need a House of Representatives in Botswana and I will strongly advocate for that. The UDC and BNF have long proposed this and it needs to be pushed in Parliament.One has to acknowledge that the BDP did what they could, and now UDC has to take over and open a new chapter for this rich nation with poor citizens. ... See MoreSee Less

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