Dark Clouds - Corruption????
Now for our final dark cloud, although we note these may well not be the only dark clouds hanging over Botswana. This one again concerns Ian Khama, and has been hinted at previously. It is the nasty stink of corruption.
We need to absolutely stress here that no-one in President Ian Khama's circle, including his relatives, has been found guilty of corrupt activity. We also need to stress the very point Sandy McCall Smith makes, that we in the west almost always focus on the negatives of Africa, and much too rarely hear of the positives. This is absolutely true.
However, in a study, however brief, of Botswana, we feel it would be remiss not to mention at least some of the negatives. But on the other hand, we first want to look at a couple of truly outstanding positives:
We need to absolutely stress here that no-one in President Ian Khama's circle, including his relatives, has been found guilty of corrupt activity. We also need to stress the very point Sandy McCall Smith makes, that we in the west almost always focus on the negatives of Africa, and much too rarely hear of the positives. This is absolutely true.
However, in a study, however brief, of Botswana, we feel it would be remiss not to mention at least some of the negatives. But on the other hand, we first want to look at a couple of truly outstanding positives:
- Transparency International, the body fighting against government corruption worldwide, publishes, among other things, a graded list of nations on the basis of their level of corruption. Botswana, at 31, is by a very long margin, the best ranked of all African nations.
- Further, Botswana, for all its poverty, and coming off an extraordinarily low base, is a significantly improving economy, growing at rates of above 5% of GDP annually, except for 2009, which I remind you was at the time of the Global Financial Crash.
Now, for some negatives. To be frank, we're unsure what to make of the accusations, some of which you will see below, of Ian giving jobs to his rellies and mates. To some degree, this is not outstandingly unusual. And why shouldn’t Ian appoint a friend as his personal secretary, for example?
Nor is it necessarily outstandingly unusual for companies owned by rellies and mates to get government contracts, although 33 out of 35 major defence contracts is, for example, at least "interesting" and worthy of a mention.
In this context, we don’t believe it's reasonable for a person to become president, and then all his or her friends and relatives being required to drop out of working for the government, or being in parliament, or applying for contracts.
But there is a major rider. The people and the companies need to obtain their positions/contracts fairly and openly, they need to be competent in relation to whatever they are being paid for, and if they’re suspected of doing the wrong thing they must be subject to the full majesty of the law.
And we're afraid we're not entirely convinced that’s the case at present in Botswana. So, while again we can say Botswana is not well down the path to perdition, it's stalking around the entrance to that path, or maybe even beginning to move down it.
Further, however, there are some very dark accusations being made, especially about a bloke called Kgosi and his thugs (see below). If these accusations are true, then Botswana is a good bit further down that perditionary road than we thought.
Right, here goes:
Nor is it necessarily outstandingly unusual for companies owned by rellies and mates to get government contracts, although 33 out of 35 major defence contracts is, for example, at least "interesting" and worthy of a mention.
In this context, we don’t believe it's reasonable for a person to become president, and then all his or her friends and relatives being required to drop out of working for the government, or being in parliament, or applying for contracts.
But there is a major rider. The people and the companies need to obtain their positions/contracts fairly and openly, they need to be competent in relation to whatever they are being paid for, and if they’re suspected of doing the wrong thing they must be subject to the full majesty of the law.
And we're afraid we're not entirely convinced that’s the case at present in Botswana. So, while again we can say Botswana is not well down the path to perdition, it's stalking around the entrance to that path, or maybe even beginning to move down it.
Further, however, there are some very dark accusations being made, especially about a bloke called Kgosi and his thugs (see below). If these accusations are true, then Botswana is a good bit further down that perditionary road than we thought.
Right, here goes:
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Linyanti Investments copped and continues to cop a heap of international flak for occupying the ancestral land of the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. We have already looked at the process of removing the Bushmen from their lands, which was cruelly carried out by government authorities under Ian’s ultimate control.
Perhaps, apart from forcibly removing the Bushmen and smashing their culture in an act that if not genocide is its twin sibling, the most cruel act was to illegally, according to Botswana's own High Court, block the Bushmen's only water bore, while building a swimming pool in the resort. Ian’s nephew (his sister’s son), Marcus Patrick Khama ter Haar (his father is Belgian), and Ian's personal lawyer, Parks Baedzi Tafa, were both appointed directors of Wilderness Holdings in 2011. Although denied by all concerned, it has been suggested these appointments were to look after Ian's interests. Linyanti Investments and Wilderness Holdings have both refused to indicate how much Ian paid for his shares, with the suspicion being it could be anything from nothing to a substantially concessional rate. One of the major elements of being a political leader is that not only should all actions be open and honest, but should definitely appear to be open and honest. Ian's Linyanti holdings and his nephew's and lawyer's positions on Wilderness Holding's board clearly don't meet these requirements. |
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Let’s have a brief look at a few more people and their activities:
- Ramadeluka Seretse, Ian’s cousin, is Botswana’s Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, which agglomeration oversees:
- the police;
- the Directorate of Intelligence Services;
- the Directorate of Public Prosecutions;
- the attorney general; and
- the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes.
This collection of goodies is ideal for someone wanting to oversee and influence the activities of the corruption fighters, such as they are. Not, we hasten to add, that we're pointing any fingers. Oh, no. we're just saying.
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- A great pals’ and rellies’ source of employment is the diamond industry, especially De Beers Botswana and Debswana, the 50-50 joint venture between the government and De Beers, and effectively a De Beers subsidiary.
De Beers, of course, is, or maybe, just maybe, was, the South African company which:
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- CIC Energy has been another source of family and friends' employment. CIC is a seriously large and wealthy coal miner in Mmamabula (about 130 km [81 miles] north of Gaborone, on the Francistown road), now owned (2015) by the massive Indian company Jindal Steel and Power. Dale ter Haar, Ian’s nephew, a former major in the British Army and son of Johan and Jacqueline (Ian's sister), is the general manager of CIC Energy.
Jindal Steel and Power is being investigated for doing sneaky coal deals with the former (in 2015) Congress Party-run Indian government. Naveen Jindal, who runs the company, has been a Congress MP. It seems all-too-likely that "allegedly" corrupt and sneaky company culture may be extant in Botswana as well.
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- Ian’s rellies and pals have made considerable sums from government tenders and other business, especially from the Botswana Defence Force and the Botswana Police Service. This particularly favoured his younger twin brothers Tshekedi and Anthony, whose companies won 33 of 35 large-scale defence force contracts between 1998 and 2012. Of course, they may have had the best bids to supply the best equipment, but 33 out of 35 contracts really is rather extraordinary.
- Ian’s response to complaints that his government has all-too-often ignored proper tender processes was to say that his critics are “frivolous”. That may or may not be so, but as former government employees ourselves, we have to say that government purchasing processes are put in place not just to maintain honesty, but to clearly show honesty. Ian is not allowing his government to do this, which leads to much wonderment on our part. And, frankly, "frivolity" is far from as serious as "corruption", even "the appearance of" corruption.
- Isaac Kgosi, who heads the Directorate of Intelligence Services, was a close associate of Ian’s during the president’s years as defence force commander. Kgosi rose to the position of head of military intelligence and became Ian’s senior personal secretary when the latter was vice-president. They apparently remain close.
The Directorate, set up in 2008 by Ian to detect and investigate "threats to national security", remains one of the president’s key power bases. The definition of “threat” is up to Kgosi, and his agents cannot be subjected to arrest. His organisation has been connected to at least 9 deaths, and several other shootings. One has to wonder why Ian feels the need to have such an organisation.
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Death of Opposition Leader There is some question, although, we hasten to add, no clear evidence, Kgosi's Directorate may be involved in the 2014 death of a leading opposition leader (who was a former member of the governing party before falling out with Ian) just before the 2014 election. |
Harassment and Deposition of Kgafela II One of the kgosi of the Bakgatla people (there are two, I will explain in a bit), is Kgafela II, whose authority includes Mochudi, Mma Ramotswe’s home. He has claimed that Kgosi and the South Africans have been plotting to kill him, or kidnap him from his adopted home in South Africa (he has lands in South Africa as well) and return him to Botswana (we'll mention why such a return may be problematic for him in a tick). |
Kgafela is difficult to feel much sympathy for. He fled Botswana to escape assault charges emanating from his attempts to reintroduce traditional floggings in the Mochudi region. One of the women flogged miscarried her baby. Kgafela also reintroduced the bogwera, and the female equivalent, although I’m unsure to what extent. I suspect it did not include the ritual death of one of the participants, although with Kgafela one could be entirely certain.
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Before fleeing, Kgafela challenged the country’s constitution and its “failure” to allow a kgosi sufficient powers and authority. His court cases failed, fortunately. Kgafela was removed as kgosi by the government, but he does not recognise his removal. Which is why there are two kgosi (or, in this story, rather confusingly, three).
Now, while Kgafela is clearly a turd, he has a perfect right, for so long as the South Africans allow him to remain in their country, to avoid kidnap by Kgosi's forces. There are legal ways of causing a person to face the courts in their homeland. Presumably, the Botswanans and, shamefully, the South Africans know this perfectly well, but don't want the publicity an extradition case may attract, or, even worse, suspect they would lose such a case. We have no sympathy whatsoever for the disgusting Nazi murderer Adolf Eichmann. But there's no doubt in our minds that after his kidnapping from South America, he was illegally tried and executed by the Israelis. Mind you, even if we had the power we would make no attempt to bring the pile of stinking elephant's faeces back to life. Kgafela, whatever his negatives, and they're considerable, albeit nothing like Eichmann's, is due the processes of the law Eichmann didn't but should have received. Death of Harry Tembo Serious accusations have been levelled at Kgosi, but at the time of writing charges have not been laid. A Malawian, Harry Tembo, was a witness against Kgosi. Tembo's hacked and cut up corpse was found outside Gaborone. As part of this case, soldiers and police being questioned over the theft of a rifle claimed Kgosi's men tortured them. Their claims were settled out of court. But that didn't bring Tembo back. Harassment of anti-government claimants, opposition politicians, and journalists Lawyers representing claimants against the government, opposition politicians, and journalists have had their houses broken into and their laptops and memory sticks stolen. One of the lawyers claims "a shadowy government organisation" was planning to murder him. There have been a number of reports of secret police theft and intimidation activities prior to the 2014 election. It's very hard to detect the "threats to national security" involved in these and a string of other occurrences. The Kalafatis Family In 2009, a bloke called John Kalafatis broke into a house owned by a Khama family friend, Allen West, and stole a laptop. He discovered on it a video of a senior government figure indulging in a homosexual act. It's unclear to us whether or not blackmail was ever attempted, but John made his find public without, apparently, naming the person. You might say, so what? Who cares? Except the Botswanan government is extremely anti-homosexual, and whoever it was is almost certainly a hypocritical scumbag. And as a hypocrite, but definitely not as a gay person, faced the permanent loss of status and position, and a possible prison sentence. A mixed group of soldiers and police murdered John. While they were allegedly under Kgosi's ultimate command, several of the killers were imprisoned. But, surprise, surprise, they all received a presidential pardon after a couple of months. John's father died in 2012 after being beaten by four men. In 2013, a policeman shot and wounded John's brother. In 2014, a friend of John's who had fled to New Zealand after apparently being refused a visa to Australia, reported he believed one of Kgosi's team was on its way to deal with him. The Kalafatis' lawyer is the one who claims "a shadowy government organisation" was planning to murder him. |
- The Mokaila brothers, Kitso and Tefo, are Ian’s childhood friends (although Kitso denies ever having been a friend of Ian’s) and army colleagues. A former defence force captain, Kitso was Environment and Tourism Minister in Khama’s Cabinet until Tshekedi Khama took over, and is now Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs. Tefo is a personal secretary at State House. This does not mean he takes shorthand.
- Peto Sekgoma is Sekgoma II’s cousin. Sekgoma II, you may remember, was Seretse Khama’s father. Tsetsele Fantan is Peto Sekgoma’s daughter. So Tsetele is Ian’s cousin.
Tsetsele is an important member of the tribunal of the Directorate of Intelligence Services, an appeals body which considers any complaints against the Directorate. Ian personally appointed her.
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- Thapelo Olopeng, a former defence force captain, maintained his friendship with Ian after both men left the army. They have travelled together on Ian’s official trips abroad. It should be noted that Olopeng denies being Ian’s friend.
Now a businessperson, Olopeng’s latest venture is a newspaper called the Sunday Patriot, which he allegedly co-owns with the defence force secretary general, a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) MP, and the chief executive of a supermarket chain.
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The newspaper is chaired by ex-President Mogae, who of course is a BDP member. The paper provides positive coverage of the BDP-controlled government, and some believe the paper is in reality owned by the BDP.
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- Guma Moyo, a BDP MP, and apparent co-owner of the Patriot, was cleared on corruption and conflict of interest charges in 2009 when Assistant Minister of Finance and Development Planning. He may have been cleared, but on a surface glance at the facts his company certainly appears to have involved itself in some very dodgy dealings even if the justice system found he did so on the right side of the law.
- Duke Masilo, a former defence force colonel, joined Botswana’s public service when Ian retired from the defence force in 1998 to become vice-president. Masilo has been redeployed to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, where he is in charge of Ian’s flagship housing project.
- Satar Dada is the BDP treasurer and at one time one of Ian’s appointed MPs (the President can appoint 4 MPs). Dada owns the Toyota Motor Centre, and has made a considerable sum selling cars to the government.
We reiterate that there are no proofs of corruption that have stood up in the courts. Of course, this could tell us a lot about the courts, but we note that in the Bushmen cases the courts generally found against the government in a project area that was a special interest of Ian’s. At least, the courts did this while the Bushmen were represented by their barrister of choice, who has effectively been banned from Botswana by being forced to apply for a visa, then having his application refused!
Ian, of course, spruiks himself as a great environmentalist, and that this is the reason for removing the Bushmen. We are not convinced, however, when diamond mines, fracking, and the like pop up where the Bushmen used to live.
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