Friends in High Places, Money in the Wrong Ones

The call to be a leader is one that shouldn’t really be desired. It calls for an individual to be the main and first public servant. However, when you mix that responsibility with greed and a need to feed yourself at the expense of your people, it becomes clear why people lose their faith in leadership and the dream of actual democracy. The former government of Botswana is one that had been faced with a roller-coaster of issues, from the scandals that led to the convictions of their Members of Parliament, some that led to no conviction at all, to the business tenders that were awarded because surnames interlinked. There were many situations where people’s livelihoods were challenged by the BDP government because they challenged the already then corrupt system and how it was being protected through legislation and incompetent governance. Allow us to indulge.

BDP Scandals: Allegations, Tenders, and Convictions

The main issue that had been inherent yet failed to be dealt with were the cases where now and then leaders of the country were arrested and held guilty by the courts because of the persistent issue of corruption. In 2010, Ramadeluka Seretse, former Minister of Defence and cousin to the President at the time, was arrested for a self-awarded tender, where he failed to stipulate his ownership over a company awarded a government tender. In 2018, the Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA) Director was implicated in allegations of corruption. Bakang Seretse, a BDP affiliate who had P82 million worth of his assets frozen on money laundering cases, had access to offshore accounts that were not accounted for by BURS. So many cases can be brought up throughout the years of governance of the BDP, and yet some of them have not yet been uncovered. Money was wasted by the people the state entrusted with the highest value of leadership.

Inside Deals: Tenders Linked to the Well-Connected

The concept of awarding government tenders directly from government opened a loophole in an idea that was set to benefit Batswana. The reason behind the direct appointment of tenders to local businesses was set to deal with the declining employment rate in the country. This would have provided a direct solution to the unemployment issue because that meant that people who were citizens were getting first-hand priority in the awarding of these tenders. However, what came into light was a pattern of people directly linked to the BDP getting these tenders and barely doing what was required of them, creating a system where tender money was centralised around the BDP and its affiliated companies.

Scandals took place, like one not so long ago when the Nkoyaphiri tender was awarded, where a toilet block was said to be made for P1,000,000 and the block was still yet to be used. The Minister for State President was set to provide an update on the value and beneficiaries of direct procurements of tenders in the Ministry from October 2019 to October 2024 and whether the Ministry itself intends to audit the processes and ascertain if there were any cases of abuse of public office. As of right now, it’s the new government that has taken the initiative of a forensic audit into their own hands, seeing that nothing was left of the government’s pocket after the BDP left.

Silenced for Speaking Out: The Price of Challenging Corruption

It was made very clear that the corruption of the BDP was a system that was working well for their pockets. Seeing that the popularity of the BDP was so large, they got the leeway to persecute those that challenged them. This injustice was masked using the name of the government and the power afforded to them by the state. The BURS seizing Bakang Seretse’s assets when he no longer benefited the BDP was not the last battle faced. It was a well-known issue when H.E. Duma Boko, then the Leader of Opposition, now the President of the Republic of Botswana, had his assets publicly seized by the BURS for apparent tax evasion. What made it clear that this was merely just a power move was the fact that he was an open disruptor when it came to the schemes of the BDP.

Current Leader of Opposition Dumelang Saleshando was once too suspended from Parliament for a week on corruption charges that held no weight. This was no coincidence, as they were the biggest opposition block against the BDP and they both had been open about what the BDP was doing behind closed curtains.

How Legislation Protected the Government Back Then

What usually happens is firstly the courts in some instances are not at liberty to challenge the Members of Parliament within their official duties. Currently, statutes that include Presidential Immunity and protections of Ministers do not allow for the leaders to be held accountable for their wrongdoings, even in situations that openly affect the country at large. It is for this reason that now a forensic audit must be.