Imagine the brutality that an ordinary citizen, in-fact the barbarity that a wretched pauper in this rich diamond led state goes through should they be found to have stolen a P5 worth of bread, or to have sold a P5 worth pinch of Marijuana just to feed the impoverished kids. Despite suffering the buffering hands of the local armed forces (be lucky not to get shot), the poor peasants end somewhere in jail or if lucky, to suffer the degrading thrashing at a traditional court.
Well it is the law, it’s always the law. Wrongdoers must be punished, according to the rule of law that prevails in Botswana. However, do not be fooled into thinking that the laws of Botswana do not discriminate. They do. The rich, with strong affiliations to the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP); top government officials and worse, are immune. Mind-you, the evidence is clear, much of which is still available and documented, revealing that these ‘elites’ have corruptly wanted hundreds of millions belonging to the tax-payer, yet they have never been troubled by the vagaries of the law even though their “indiscretions” are now in the public domain. This is Botswana for you! The kind of government that would take a petty thief to jail, and ignore hard core criminals; those white collar criminals who steal millions in public funds.
A very clear example is the latest failings in corporate governance and regulatory control, exposed by the parliamentary committee. Just as with an entertainment talk show, accounting officers attend the proceedings speaking to and admitting their failings before the committee year in and year out, and once the “show” is over, its business as usual. Despite the Chairman of the committee, Samson Guma Moyo’s threat that some of the positions and pronouncements made by accounting officers will land them in jail; it has remained a threat that cannot be executed.
They walk back to their plush offices scot-free, despite having revealed the misuse of millions belonging to the tax payer under their watch. Batswana are saddled with poor services and their resources are being misused right under their noses. This year like others before it has not been different, public funds are being squandered in broad daylight.
This year, not only were officers of the said enterprises found wanting, but their Ministers were fingered too, only to have them wash their sins in the blood of their junior officers and Chief Executives Officers (CEO’s).
Tshekedi Khama, the Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism was summoned to appear for questioning on his alleged interference at the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO). Before the committee, Khama and his BTO CEO Brian Dithebe danced a sultry tango with each other with each step weaving a sensual dance of blame on the other in respect of multi-million Pula worth illegal contracts signed by the organization without following proper procedure. Dithebe fleet movements in the shifting of responsibility dance, accused the Minister of meddling in his organizations operations without his input. The improper input, Dithebe said, lead to entering contracts worth millions which were given to foreign companies without a proper government procurement/tender award procedure.
The former Minister of Transport and Communications Tshenolo Mabeo was also blamed for letting Air Botswana operate for 3 months without board. The Moyo led committee expressed its grave concern that Ministry officials have developed a disturbing habit of deliberately running parastatals without the board which they erroneously believe, allows them to circumvent the law. Mabeo and his Permanent Secretary Neil Fitt were also made to answer for unauthorized expenditure that was made on Air Botswana account without authorization from its board of directors. It was during the proceedings of the committee that it was revealed that Fitt wrote a letter to the Acting General Manager of Air Botswana citing that the ministry has granted approval to Air Botswana to award the tender to Pratt & Whitney Canada Customer Service Centre Europe GmbH through its management tender committee.
The Guma Moyo led committee proposed that there be forensic audit undertaken on Botswana Railways (BR) before it collapses. After intense review of the BR operations, the committee unanimously agreed that the management and board of the 100 percent state owned Rail Company is unfit to run the company. According to the committee the audit will be done to help the company attain operational efficiency.
Botswana Trade Commission (BOTC). BOTC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mphoentle Tamasiga stated that Minister Seretse gave him powers to run the daily operations of the commission, which currently does not have a board of directors. Tamasiga told the committee that he came up with a temporary structure that saw him single-handedly recruit 5 executive employees whom he had been given powers to headhunt by the previous board. The five top executive posts which are the only posts filled by the commission. They were filled without giving other Batswana an opportunity to apply for those posts according to Ramasiga since they were not advertised. The committee also established that the hired executive staff members were not interviewed as the board was non-existent and since they were employed solely at the instance of the CEO. When further quizzed if there was an approved structure for the commission, he admitted that there wasn’t. The previous board that was fired by Minister Seretse was chaired by Katane Sithole. That board and was dismissed in March 2016 according to Tamasiga and since then the commission has been operating without the board of directors.
The newly established commission that was allocated P9.9 million for the 2016/17 financial year shocked the commission when it stated that for five (5) staff members it is paying P79 000 monthly rental, which translates to P948 000 annually. Tamasiga blamed the previous board for the lease which he says was entered into prior to his employment with the commission. “It’s a three (3) year lease, without an option to terminate,” he highlighted while further stating that he is not comfortable with the lease he inherited.
In a normal state administration, all these improper governance issues qualify for investigations on corruption, which is punishable both at an administrative level and under law. However there has never been any effort by Botswana government to hold people to account, despite having so many institutions charged with safeguarding the law, and ensuring that no one undermines the financial resources of the state unlawfully.
Every year, government funds the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), the Directorate on Intelligence and Security (DIS), the Botswana Police Service (BPS), as well as the Ombudsman with hundreds of millions. The idea is not for these crime and corruption busting agencies to focus purely on petty crime but economic (white collar) crimes as well which weigh heavily on the economy.
The DCEC for example, a corruption busting agency which was established under the Act of 1994, serves to make comprehensive provision for the prevention of corruption; and confer power on the Directorate to investigate suspected cases of corruption and economic crime and matters connected or incidental thereto. Further, under Section 6 of the Act, which outlines functions of the DCEC, it is to investigate any conduct of any person, which in the opinion of the Director, may be connected with or conducive to corruption. Under Guma Moyo’s parliamentary committee, more than five top government officials have been found to have either abused office, mismanaged millions of Pula or acted in either unlawful or illegal actions that touted proper procurement and or governance protocols. Not one of those named as Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and CEOs have been investigated by the DCEC so as to be held to account, despite the rife evidence of violations of corporate governance and misuse of government funds that were exposed to the Nation.
Government currently funds the Rose Seretse led office with close to P100 million annually, to enable her to investigate corruption and expose the culprits. DCEC was funded with P71 million during the 2015 financial year.
Further, Section 6 (e) of the DCEC Act says that the Directorate serves to assist any law enforcement agency of the Government in the investigation of offences involving dishonesty or cheating of the public revenue. Not even one law enforcement agency has jumped onto these matters. Not the DIS, not Botswana Police. The DIS was established to safeguard national security, investigate and bust criminals, including those that are involved in economic crimes, especially where the public funds are involved. None of these law enforcement agencies, funded by the national purse saw the need to investigate the corruption exposes at the parliamentary committee.
The tax-payer, during the 2015 financial year financed Botswana Police with P1.4 billion, while the DIS, an intelligence agency led by Isaac Kgosi was given P1 billion.
Further, the DCEC Act, under Section 6 (f) says that the Directorate also serves to examine the practices and procedures of public bodies in order to facilitate the discovery of corrupt practices and to secure the revision of methods of work or procedures which, in the opinion of the Director, may be conducive to corrupt practices. The Moyo led Parliamentary Committee on State Enterprises exposed a lot of wrong doing at BTO, BITC, Air Botswana, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Transport as well as the Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry. These are the ‘public bodies’ which Rose Seretse, Director of the DECE ought to be using the legislative tools availed to her to facilitate the discovery of corrupt practices. However she did not see the need to do, despite that Moyo, the chairman of the parliamentary committee made her job easier by exposing all the evidence for her.
This is the same Seretse whose DCEC will quickly jump at any opportunity to pin down anyone or any company that does not have any affiliation to the elite.
The independence and efficiency of the DCEC should be questioned since it now falls directly under the control, both administratively and finically of the Office of the President.
Furthermore, government spent p18 million during the 2015 financial year funding Office of the Ombudsman. The Botswana Ombudsman was established by a 1995 Act of Parliament and started operating on 1 December 1997. The Ombudsman is an public official who is appointed by the President in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament. His duty is to investigate the administrative actions or decisions taken by public institutions or the officials of such institutions. He investigates upon receipt of complaints from members of the public or, in some cases, of his own motion and, in either case, may make recommendations for remedial action if he considers it necessary to do so. The individual focuses mostly on Maladministration. However, the obvious cases of maladministration at government enclave have never been of interest to the Ombudsman, and it is unclear why the office is failing to take the necessary actions on clear cases of maladministration by these government officials. The Ombudsman’s one notable achievement was to condemn the Executive’s use of military aircraft for his personal use. The report came to an ignominious end as the Ombudsman too falls under both the financial and administrative control of the Executive.