Resigned or pushed out?

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Water Utilities Corporation responsible for Technical Support Services, Judy Tsonope is resigning her position just within the first year of her three-year contract amidst allegations that she may have been pushed out, Botswana Guardian has learnt.

Tsonope whose portfolio covers human resources and finance is currently serving the mandatory three months notice up to end of December. She leaves at a time when WUC had just developed a three-year strategy plan starting April 2012 to March 2015 to provide quality water throughout the country.

Her resignation is clouded with secrecy amidst allegations that she may have been either forced to resign by her principals whom it is alleged were not in good terms with her. However, the official information is that Tsonope is resigning out of her own for personal reasons. She resigns at a time when WUC is facing serious challenges to meet its service delivery target.

The resignation has allegedly not pleased the board so much that it is consistently engaging the entire executive management to find ways of meeting the set objectives. The board has even ordered that the WUC executive management must ensure that they hold at least one retreat outside Gaborone. The executive management recently held such a meeting in Gantsi.

WUC recently took over water supply functions from both local government and the defunct Department of Water Affairs through the water sector reforms, which hopes to improve service delivery in 45 villages. But as things stand, WUC faces numerous challenges concerning customers’ bills as well as revenue collection. Efforts to get a comment from Tsonope were not successful.

Chairperson of WUC board of Directors, Nozipho Mabe confirmed Tsonope’s resignation to Botswana Guardian this week, but was quick to point out that her resignation has nothing to do with job dissatisfaction or non-performance.

Asked if she has heard of allegation that Tsonope has been pushed out or harassed, Mabe said there is little that the board can do to persuade someone who wants to leave for personal reasons. “We have not heard any of the senior management coming to us to lodge a complain about that. I must state that our policy is clear that if anybody feels aggrieved and or disadvantaged somehow, then they have the right to report such to the board so that we can take appropriate action.”