He was a Social Studies teacher. That year, he was participating in the marking of Junior Examinations Social Studies papers which had an incident where the markers of Social Studies paper II downed the tools, demanding audience with authorities for better remuneration for the Paper II, as they found it too demanding but under paid for. Mokokomane had successfully mobilised all of the Paper II markers to join the boycott, which was a resounding success. But as the engagement with the authorities gained momentum, many of the markers abandoned the boycott and ran away, while only two men remained standing during the face off with the authorities over the matter, which they eventually won. According to Mokokomane, at the end it was him and a certain teacher whom he got to know well during the furore over the Social studies Paper II wages. That other teacher, who stuck with him for the long haul when the rest ran away, was a certain social studies teacher going by the names, Nicholas Tobokani Rari. From that episode, Mokokomane took interest in this calm, but resilient fighter.
Rari had made a lasting impression on the BOSETU national organising secretary, thanks to his steadfastness during the negotiations for the social studies paper II wages. As fate would have it, the two later meet again in Maun, few years later, where Mokokomane’s faith in the potential of the man sitting with him grew further. Then it happened. One dead of the night, in 2005, and ahead of the BOSETU national executive committee elections, Mokokomane phoned Rari and requested him to stand for additional member position at the elections. To his credit, at the time, Rari had already been steadily making moves and gaining recognition within the BOSETU community and was at the time chairperson, Northwest region.
The call for additional member in the national executive committee was not what he was expecting that night, but decided to give it a nod. Little did Rari know that Mokokomane had bigger plans for him beyond just being an additional member of the BOSETU national executive. After that, Mokokomane would literally hand hold Rari into the various responsibilities of national organising. Rari had become an understudy to Mokokomane and would later serve under Mokokomane’s portfolio, where he flourished with the assignments he was entrusted with. Some of which included structure mobilisations, member recruitment, which involved canvassing the length and breadth of the country, identifying potential, among others, explains Mokokomane. “Because of that courage and articulation of issues that Rari impressed me with, I could see the great leadership potential in him, he was calm, yet fearless. When I left teaching to join the Independent Electoral Commission later on, I confidently left the honours to Rari, to lead as the national organising secretary, and he did that with distinction, up to this day,” Mokokomane says with a smile.
“Not everyone can mobilise and win teachers’ confidence, it takes special skills, and in Rari, I feel my faith in him has been vindicated; if I could be asked what is it that I bequeathed to BOSETU, I will confidently show you Rari, he is by far the most influential trade union voice in Botswana, maybe only second to Motshwarakgole in terms of influence; his voice has remained constant throughout the years, effecting amazing changes in all spheres.” He says the longevity of Rari’s service to the union, continues to serve it well in many facets. He enthuses that taking up the responsibilities from a young age by Rari continues to enrich BOSETU as a trade union that always has its history intertwining with the current, ensuring that the union continues to benefit from the invaluable institutional memory that he carries.
He credits Rari’s institutional memory to the fact that today BOSETU continues to actively draw all its past leaders, especially the past presidents, under one roof to tap from their brains, as the past presidents continue to serve BOSETU in board of trustees, ensuring that their knowledge and wisdom is not lost to the Union. This cannot be by chance, as Rari has worked with all of them, and he knows where they can be found to be drawn closer to the Union activities, this is what makes BOSETU unique, according to Mokokomane. Rari has served with all the former presidents of BOSETU, namely Baboloki Tlale, Eric Ditau, Shandukanu Hlabano, Kwenasebele Modukanele, and the incumbent Winston Radikolo, but it was in 2011 that he ascended to the secretary general of BOSETU, where he ran unopposed for two terms, before seeing off the challenge from his then deputy, Innocent Mannathoko. Although this will be his fourth term running, the recently amended BOSETU constitution now has a mandatory term limit of two terms, starting with this year’s elections.
