Revered as exemplary for doing business, state fiscal stewardship and democracy, Botswana has maintained its status as a success among its peers within the continent. This shiny status is tainted with questionable inequalities, leadership transitions and transparency. In expanding the body of work that is ‘Not Yet Uhuru’ – Success Capital is embarking on a journey that showcases how tainted this shiny status is. A country that is not void of regional and global ills of corruption, maladministration and deficient governance. Measures of success in business, state fiscal prudence and democracy have always been skewed for an elite few. The same can be said for the audience many reports and Global North development/rating institutions produce as ‘measures of progress’ the country is successful in. It has granted an apathy of intellectual thinking that absolves the government of failed promises. These credible, widely respected and standards setting institutions remain racist, elitist and exclusionary of the real issues and lives affected and impacted by politicians, governance and democratic institutions. It is only a start to truly revealing the extent of patronage, unethical practice and conflicts of interest in all sectors, systems and social groupings in Botswana. Media plays an integral part in increasing transparency and holding governments, public figures and entities accountable. Although allegations, reports have not been tested or are in process to be tested before the courts – they raise alarm at the instances of injustice at play in Botswana. Stronger civil society, institutions and accountability mechanisms are needed to prevent and curb these instances. We have listed an overview of some of these reports below:
- Millions wasted on stadiums in anticipation of the World Cup held in South Africa.(Sunday Standard, 2008)
- Lack of transparency on Plastic Levy Funds.(The Daily News, 2014)
- Prominent politician kills a boy mistaking him for a dog (Mothala, 2014)
- Over P160 Million lost on projects (The Patriot, 2014)
- P12 Billion and counting spent on Morupule B (Sunday Standard, 2016)
- P600 million missing from the Ministry of Education. (Masokola, 2016)
- P81 Million lost on Air Botswana illegal deal (Masokola, 2016)
- BCL and Tati Mines closed (Daily News, 2016)
- P100 Million spent on Bots50 Independence Celebrations, with some tenders awarded unlawfully.(Mmeso, 2016)
- State Owned Enterprises retrenching impacting employment levels.(Nguni, 2016)
- More than P4.2 billion wasted on an Economic Stimulus Programme (Ditlhakeng, 2016)
- The former President bought himself an EU Banned, 2nd hand Helicopter for Millions of Pula (The Gazette Newspaper, 2016)
- The former President’s brother Tshekedi Khama wastes 80 Million (The Gazette Newspaper, 2017)
- P50 000 was found in Minister’s dustbin (Selatlhwa, 2018)
- P522 million paid to Russians by the government to settle a lawsuit over BCL Mine. (Kelibile, 2018)
- Glass project built at P500m, only to be sold for P10m. (Mokwena, 2018)
- 28 BMW Cars Bought for Ministers, costing Tax Payers more than 20 Million while the youth remain unemployed (Gabz FM, 2018)
- Millions wasted on buying a Slow Second Hand Train, purchases of the trains still remains a mystery. (Nguni, 2018)
- P250 Million stolen from the National Petroleum Fund, with the Former President, his Vice-now-President, and Ministers implicated as Beneficiaries (Mmeso, 2018)
- More than P330 Millions wasted on Airports without visible improvement.(Mmolai, 2018)
- Minimum Wage: Some employees less than USD 60 per month. (The Gazette Newspaper, 2018)
- P21 Million used to renovate the state house.(Mmeso, 2019)
- Former President Khama built himself a house using state resources. (Serite, 2019)
- Billions went missing at BPOPF, implicating some of top government officials.(Kanono, 2019)
- Political leader’s defilement case.(Gabathusi, 2020)
- Government owned Media (BTV, RB1 & RB2) reports biased news (Konopo, 2020)
- Preferential land allocations whilst the majority wait up to 25 years for land (Mphoeng, 2020)
Botswana is routinely ranked one the least corrupt in comparison to other African countries (International Transparency, 2019). The 2019 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index marked Botswana at 61 out of a possible 100, of which the latter is considered the least corrupt of rankings. However, the public sector ranks in the lowest quarter of countries in corruption perceptions.
The Judicial System: There is a moderate risk of corruption in the judicial system. Businesses report that irregular payments or bribes to obtain favorable decisions are sometimes exchanged (World Economic Forum, 2017). Trials are considered free and fair as there is independence (HRR 2014). Botswana performs the best in Africa for upholding the rule of law. However, businesses often find the legal system inefficient (GCR 2015-2016). It takes on average of 625 days to enforce a contract. This is attributed to understaffing of state institutions and backlogs in cases.
Public Services: Corruption is a low risk for businesses acquiring public licenses, permits, or utilities. Businesses report that irregular payments in relation to public utilities sometimes occur. Batswana who were surveyed reported that they did not experience petty or bureaucratic corruption when obtaining: various identity documents, accessing medical services, water, sanitation, or electric services (Business Anti-Corruption Portal, 2016)
Public Procurement: There is a high risk of corruption, notably in the form of patronage. Nepotism and cronyism are prevalent. For example, the Minister of Defense at some point was a cousin of the President, whom are also related to the then head of the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). Family members and friends often own companies that government ministries have do business with (Sunday Standard, 2015). There are too few avenues for whistleblowers to report, as happened with an e-government related scandal (Sunday Standard, 2018). Little action has been taken or made on this case, highlighting the lack of accountability and transparency in state procurement (Patriot, 2018).
This report signals the importance of civil society, media and other stakeholders in ensuring and safeguarding Botswana’s democracy and fiscal strength. Little focus has been made on systemic monitoring, raising awareness and concerted collaborative effort in challenging corruption. In this regard, Success Capital Organisation has initiated a multi-year body of work aimed at strengthening youth agency and efficacy in corruption related work. This is aligned to our work centered on reducing illicit financial flows and safeguarding a state fiscal strength that can ensure adequate and dignified service delivery, universal health coverage and leaving no one behind in achieving the SDGs, Agenda 2063 and Vision 2036.
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