Enemy of the State – Hell No!
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As Botswana heads to the polls in about a fortnight, clashes between perceived beneficiaries under the former administration of Lt Gen Dr Ian Khama and pallbearers of the current administration under President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi are largely at play – Tizza Seduke of Defence Concepts is one of the characters in this script and he is feeling the pinch of being collateral.
“When two elephants tussle it is the grass that suffers,” as the old adage goes, I could be likened to grass in this case. The current administration sees me as one of the blue eyed boys of the former administration whilst those from the former administration did not want anything to do with me,” cries Tizza Seduke, a self-made businessman who shot to fame when his flying school was linked with former President Khama and the then Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) Director General Isaac Kgosi.
“Nothing has ever been far from the truth as this allegation. I own the International Aviation School (IAS) or flying school, neither Kgosi nor Khama has ever been a director or a shareholder of that school. The truth of the matter is that at some point they wanted to take the school away from me and I refused. I was not one of their favourites,” declared Seduke.
Seduke’s company, Defence Concepts, has done work for the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) during Kgosi’s time, but according to Seduke, he only got one job back in 2013, “we never got any other job with the DIS”. He said the job they got was the P49 million Mahalapye Prison fencing through an open tender process. We beat a company that had quoted P39 million for the job because we are the exclusive suppliers of the material that was required for the job. After quoting P39 million, that company was still going to come back to us for supply of the wire,” he explained.
Seduke’s company had caught the eye of Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), after it was awarded a P49 million tender for the construction of the Mahalapye Prison fence. Although the project fell under the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security, it was coordinated by DISS which falls under the Office of the President. Contrary to popular belief that the tender was allocated through a selective tendering process, where Defence Concepts was identified as the preferred supplier without going to open tender, Seduke stresses that they were competing with another company which had actually quoted lower.
“The other challenge for our competitor in this job is that they did not have a PPADB Grade E.” Seduke said like any company he had been ‘marketing’ his products and services, hence DIS recognized him as a professional company, “I had no say in their procurement process. I only responded to invitations and gave service to the best of my ability,” he stressed. He shared that he did fencing solutions for the DIS because he was the exclusive provider of the fence they required. According to Seduke, it was for DIS management to ensure that procurement procedures were followed.
Seduke also confirmed that the Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) had approached his business operations for auditing. “As Batswana we stigmatize the mandate of BURS when they audit our companies. This does not mean that there is always something wrong. It’s to encourage compliance. They have audited me before and it was not the first time and it was nothing unusual,” he said. Seduke said he does not see this as a witch-hunt, the only thing that worries him is that people link his businesses with Khama and Kgosi “which is unfair”. “Those people had actually attempted to close me down,” he said.
THE KGOSI FALLOUT
In an interview recently, Seduke confirmed that he has been investigated by the DCEC as part of the agency’s investigation against Kgosi and the DIS among others. “Yes DCEC has investigated me. The allegations surrounded us being engaged by DIS, that was around 2012 and I submitted a statement to DCEC. Since then they have never approached me in relation to those issues.”
He explained that there was confusion as to how the tender shifted from Ministry of Defence Justice and Security to Office of the President, “Remember that in 2017 there was a breakout at Mahalapye prison after Prisons department failed to get the tender or the job done. Since this was seen as a security threat, DIS got involved to coordinate whole project and they ran an Expression of Interest to which we responded,” he said.
Seduke stated that during the interview the DCEC had wanted to know if he was paid in cash or transfers, “I told them the truth as I know it. There was nothing to hide hence my name was cleared.” He said a few of his payments were made in cash. “After this interaction with the DCEC I had a fallout with Kgosi, I could not tell why but I suspected it was borne from my revelations that I was paid in cash,” he said.
According to Seduke Kgosi has not spoken to him since the day he was interviewed by the DCEC and he has not been invited to tender for any job at the DIS. “It is unfortunate that I continue to be linked with DIS jobs when I was long blacklisted for telling the DCEC the truth that I knew.” When asked if he had any personal relationship with Kgosi, Seduke said he had a working relationship with Kgosi “due to the fact that he is someone who is hands on.”
SEDUKE AND THE KHAMA LINK
When asked about his relationship with former President Khama, Seduke was quick to point out that he had met him only on three occasions and at a distance. “I only met Khama last year for the first time in what I would say was a close proximity.” Seduke said people link him to Khama because his Flying School (IAS) is located within the same compound as the Flying Club. “The Flying Club owns the land and we are renting from them. We pay them P15 000 per month,” he said. Khama is the patron of the Flying Club.
Seduke however admitted that his school took advantage of the Flying club Patrons Dinner by staging their graduation ceremonies on the same dates as the dinner. He said he has not engaged Khama on any subject related to his businesses, “I was doing my businesses in a clean manner and I did not want to ingratiate myself to powers that be for my success, I had worked for it,” he said. He said he was aware of allegations that he was fronting for some influential individuals in the society. “There is nothing for me to hide. There has never been an influential individual who is a shareholder or has beneficial interest in my companies. Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) is there to find out,” he said.
THE FLYING SCHOOL IS IN TROUBLE
As of now Seduke’s Flying School is in trouble and he may be forced to retrench workers soon. The Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) has declined to accredit the school and Government is not sending students for training at the school instead South African schools are preferred. “But is it interesting that the Aviation Body, Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) which accredited by ICAO, has assessed our school and equipment and found them worthy,” said Seduke.
He said he wants to ensure that he satisfies BQA standards hence he pushed for CAAB to assess his school. “Prior to 2016 the entire delta was flooded with white South African pilots and after we graduated a number of pilots the localization initiative gained traction at the delta,” said Seduke. Seduke is currently engaging BQA on accreditation of his school and “I hope this has nothing to do with the notion that Khama or Kgosi are part my school, they have never been and they will never be. I refused to sell my school to certain people linked to them,” he said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.
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BDP MPs demand review of Ministers performance
Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) backbenchers were left frustrated when State Minister Kabo Morwaeng failed to furnish them with reports from various ministries at a party retreat held last month.
The two-day retreat of BDP MPs at Notwane Farms was held to discuss the implementation and progress of government projects in line with the party’s 2019 general elections manifesto, in order to assert themselves and press the President to take action against ineffective members of his cabinet. They believed that the laxity of these members could cost them the elections next year.
To accomplish this, the party had requested that each ministry submit their reports to the State Ministry, as it was the most senior ministry. These reports were expected to be assessed at the retreat to evaluate service delivery and the implementation of the party manifesto.
The ministries submitted their performance reports to the Ministry as agreed, but Masisi and the MPs did not have the opportunity to review them. This was the main agenda of the retreat, but when it commenced, and many were anticipating the reports, they were nowhere to be found.
“Minister Morwaeng told us (MPs) that he forgot to prepare them, and as a result, there was nothing to discuss. He said he would share those reports in our WhatsApp group. To us, that was an insult because it is a very serious matter, and we needed to discuss it and see which ministry is failing and how it can be assisted to ensure that service delivery is met,” revealed one MP to WeekendPost.
Reliable sources have informed this publication that one of the reasons why the reports were not shared is due to the poor performance of the State Ministry. It is said that the Minister decided not to share the reports because it would portray him as incompetent, especially since President Masisi was present and seeking suggestions from MPs.
It is understood that the Ministry of Lands and Water Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, performed well, while the Ministry of Health and the State Ministry performed poorly.
The MPs are primarily concerned about the lack of correlation between the ministries’ recurrent and development budgets.
“You would notice that in some cases, a ministry would spend their recurrent budget accordingly, but when you look at their development expenditure, it is at 15 percent. That’s the money that should ensure that people receive services and amenities, and we wanted to advise ministers to communicate with bureaucrats to address this,” added the MP.
Without the reports, and with the expected agenda now in tatters, it is said that President Masisi asked MPs to come up with suggestions on how to win public confidence to secure victory in the next elections. It was at this point that backbenchers asked President Mokgweetsi Masisi to crack the whip on ineffectual ministers who had failed to fulfill their mandates. MPs expressed their concerns to the President, particularly regarding the state of affairs at the hospitals.
“There is a serious shortage of medicines and personnel in our areas, especially in rural areas. We have been complaining about this situation for some time, but there seems to be no change,” one MP told WeekendPost.
“The state of our roads and infrastructure is in disrepair. What irks us the most is that we have been complaining about these things for some time, but there has been no change. We demand progress.”
The issue of poor delivery and the significant deficit in the ruling party’s election promises is so severe that President Masisi had his ministers sign performance agreements and annual performance plans. The President effectively read them the riot act, informing them that they would be fired if they continued to fall short in delivering on their mandates.
He told journalists at a press conference that he recently had a serious engagement with Minister of Health Minister Dr. Edwin Dikoloti and Assistant Minister of Health Sethomo Lelatisitswe regarding the deplorable state of affairs at public health facilities.
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