SONNY SERITE
Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Botswana Couriers and Logistics Peter Meswele has tendered his resignation from the organisation after the Board of Directors decided to replace him with another officer in the acting position of CEO.
Meswele held the position of Chief Operations Officer at Botswana Couriers and Logistics until he was promoted to act as CEO after the departure of Leatile Medupe who stepped down on 30 June 2016. Meswele, whose contract was expected to end on 30 April 2019, will instead leave office next week on 15 January. This publication has established that Meswele tendered his resignation after the Board Chairperson wrote and informed him of the decision to remove him from the position of acting CEO where he has now been replaced by one of his former juniors Letlhogonolo Doe Masendu.
It is suspected that Meswele might have viewed the move by the board as a sign of no confidence in him and felt the decision was an embarrassing demotion in that he was now expected to go back to his previous position where he would now be expected to report to Masendu who initially reported to him.
In an interview with The Botswana Gazette, Acting Chief Executive Officer Letlhogonolo Doe Masendu confirmed Meswele’s departure and said he has decided to pursue other interests. “We thank him for his contribution and wish him well in his new endeavours,’’ Masendu said.
Meswele leaves Botswana Couriers when the company is going through financial problems that allegedly prevailed since he took over the reins from Medupe. So dire is the financial situation at the organization that employees are often paid their salaries late. In some instances, the organisation is said to have failed to credit fuel allowance for management at Shell filling stations where the fuel credit facility is operated.
Botswana Couriers faces a bleak future with uncertainty over their contract with the Central Medial Stores which has acted as their lifeline since 2014. Masendu however rubbished allegations of the company’s financial woes insisting that ‘‘Botswana Couriers and Logistics remains a viable and profitable outfit despite the challenging economic environment’’. Masendu also dismissed reports that the company has closed down some of its branches around the country due to financial challenges. On whether the company intends to lay off some of its employees, Masendu said there are no such plans.
For his part, Meswele said he was resigning to pursue other interests; “Its about moving to other things after serving Botswana Couriers for 5 years,” he said, explain that he has always been aware that he is serving at the pleasure of the board and that the appointment would eventually expire.