DCEC, DPP afraid of NPF politicians – Kerekang
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Kenneth Kerekang, Bakang Seretse’s co-accused in the ongoing P250 million National Petroleum Fund (NPF) money laundering scandal, has told WeekendPost that he feels used by politicians and has been made a scapegoat by the state agencies.
Kerekang, Bakang, former Minister of Minerals, Sadique and his twin brother Judge Zein Kebonang, Kago Setimela, and Mogomotsi Seretse are accused of laundering 250m from NPF, a charge they all deny. According to Kerekang, first of all there was a formal request made by the then Director in the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) Isaac Kgosi to the Ministry of Minerals for funding of strategic fuel storages.
A pre-feasibility study was as such commissioned by the Ministry of Minerals, he says. “I was part of this team which comprised of a number of people from our ministry and the DIS office. And the study results were taken by the DIS to be assessed by a company of their choice (name known to this publication). Their reasons for choosing the said company was that the company had done the work for them before in 2010,” said Kerekang.
It is said that a recommendation was then made by a result of the study that an amount of P650m will be required for the work the DIS needed, which was the expansion of fuel storages done in 2010. “DIS then made an application to PPADB to single pick the said company for the construction of the fuel storage facilities. PPADB advised that it should be an open tender.”
“Kgosi then ignored PPADB and approached me asking me for a variation from fuel storage facilities to human trafficking. I told him the issue was beyond me and advised him to consult the permanent secretary, Dr Obolokile Obakeng,” Kerekang averred. He says from that point the issue of variation never returned to him. “What I knew next from communication was Dr Obakeng has approved the variation to anti-poaching because according to DIS, this had now become a priority.” Kerekang pointed that all this was an internal communication, and further that at the stage Khulaco PTY (Ltd) had not been appointed transactional service provider.
APPOINTMENT OF KHULACO PTY (Ltd)
Kerekang said soon after Dr Obakeng approved the variation, he received a communiqué from Kgosi directing him to deposit an amount of P250m to Khulaco account as they had been appointed transactional service providers. The reason for the P250 million not P650 million, he said was because the monies were in different investments and couldn’t be taken at a go.
“Acting on the strength of that directive from DIS, I wrote a mandate to Kgori Capital, the fund manager of NPF to the extent that the money be released as per the directive from Isaac Kgosi. Quite to the contrary, I never introduced Khulaco to Kgosi. In fact, I knew about Khulaco through the directive that Kgosi wrote to me,” Kerekang told this publication, stressing that Khulaco’s appointment was a matter that would be known to Kgosi and his seniors at the ministry, the minister and his PS.
Kerekang said the amount due to Khulaco was P230, not P250, the reason being to avoid hurting the fund by taking large sums at once. He says at no point had he dealt with Botho Leburu, Bakang’s co-director at Khulaco or Bakang. “I only knew Bakang because he was part of Kgori Capital who were the fund managers. And we had no business relationship or common interest between us. At no time did Khulaco ask me to credit any money to it. The only email I received to credit Khulaco was Kgosi’s directive.”
Kerekang averred that it came to him as a shock when the charge sheet was read to him two months ago that he misled Kgosi into believing that Khulaco was a government company, adding that they have never been in a meeting where the status of Khulaco was discussed.
“And it was never my intention to question the status of people and or companies the DIS was dealing with. I have always trusted as the country’s prime intelligence agency that they have done their due diligence. And the DIS is an office with the country’s most senior people and they were reporting directly to the president. Really, it was not for me to challenge their integrity.”
KEREKANG EXPLAINS 20% COMMISSION
“I am aware by reference to correspondence on the file that Khulaco had demanded payment of 20 percent of total amount. This however, has not been a matter discussed with me. It was a matter for the attention of my supervisors who even kept the file in their offices.”
WHAT ABOUT DIGNIA SYSTEMS?
According to Kerekang, he was made aware of Dignia Systems by Kgosi and had at no point communicated with its officials. My dealings with Khulaco were limited to the payment that I was authorized to make. “I am aware that there are suggestions that some property has been bought for me through the NPF money. I wish to state for the record for that I have no property registered in my name bought through NPF proceeds,” he said.
I AM INNOCENT – KEREKANG
“I am still waiting for my accusers to explain what role I played in the variation by Dr Obakeng because if at all there was a conspiracy it would have been the variation. Dr Obakeng cannot say that I was present in their meeting. As far as I am concerned, it was between the DIS and my superiors,” Kerekang noted. He said the issue of variation could not have come up with Bakang. Khulaco came after the issue of variation was settled, he stated.
Kerekang further shares: “I cannot understand why conspiracy can be alleged between us that we conspired to launder P230m or any amount over a project that is not ours. How can I conspire over a project outside my mandate? My mandate has been to do with the transaction that I was authorized to, and other things I only saw them in the DIS invoice.”
KGORI CAPITAL AND BASIS POINTS
Kerekang also spoke to the allegation that he has abused office by signing an unauthorized contract with Kgori Capital, and as a result lost an amount of P10m in asset management fees. He stated that after Basis Points was awarded the tender from NPF and having subcontracted Kgori it was stated by Non-Bank Financial Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) that the asset manager must have a contract with the fund manager.
“The interim mandate had to be signed to allow the work of asset manager to continue as the laws dictated. And part of that request was that fees chargeable by the asset manager should be clear as per the contract,” he narrated. “As a matter of fact, the issue of 0.8 percent which was the annual fee was fully disclosed in the quotation to the fund management committee,” he said, adding that at no point did any committee member or a minister ever question what he had done regarding the duties he was assigned to do.
“I never acted outside my mandate.” It is further Kerekang’s evidence that Basis Point was awarded a tender for consultancy to revise energy projects with a view of recommending optimal funding models. The asset management fees would be dependent on market value, as they were not fixed. “I did not come up with the 0.80 percent, it has always been in the tender document. And it is not like Kgori or Basis Points paid themselves. It was an agreed thing between the parties. And if it had not been about me, the documents that I signed would not have been processed by any officer before coming to me for signature,” he said.
KEREKANG BLAMES DCEC AND DPP
Kerekang alleges that the truth of the matter is that the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) needed someone to use to explain away the alleged conspiracy. “The only people they could use will certainly not be the untouchable politicians. So they took a decision to use me so that these highest and mighty named be absolute from their decision.
I was the easy one to blame because they (politicians) are untouchable people.” “Government had to be seen acting and decided that me and Bakang be charged when the decision makers were never called to account. They are afraid of politicians involved,” Kerekang said.
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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES: Masisi asks Virginia for help
President Mokgweetsi Masisi says the issue of sustainable natural resources management has always been an important part of Botswana’s national development agenda.
Masisi was speaking this week on the occasion of a public lecture at Virginia Polytechnic, under theme, “Merging Conservation, Democracy and Sustainable Development in Botswana.”
Botswana, according to Masisi, holds the view that the environment is fragile and as such, must be managed and given the utmost protection to enable the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is necessary that we engage one another in the interchange of ideas, perspectives, visualizations of social futures, and considerations of possible strategies and courses of action for sustainable development,” said Masisi.
On the other hand, dialogue, in the form of rigorous democratic discourse among stakeholders presents another basis for reconfiguring how people act on their environments, with a view to conserving its resources that “we require to meet our socio-economic development needs on a sustainable basis,” Masisi told attendees at the public lecture.
He said government has a keen interest in understanding the epidemiology and ecology of diseases of both domestic and wild animals. “It is our national interest to forestall the dire consequences of animal diseases on our communities livelihoods.”
President Masisi hoped that both Botswana and Virginia could help each other in curbing contagious diseases of wildlife.
“We believe that Virginia Tech can reasonably share their experiences, research insights and advances in veterinary sciences and medicines, to help us build capacity for knowledge creation and improve efforts of managing and containing contagious diseases of wildlife. The ground is fertile for entering into such a mutually beneficial partnership.”
When explaining environmental issues further, Masisi said efforts of conservation and sustainable development might at times be hampered by the emergence and recurrence of diseases when pathogens mutate and take host of more than one species.
“Water pollution also kills aquatic life, such as fish, which is one of humanity’s much deserved sources of food. In this regard, One Health Approach imposes ecological responsibility upon all of us to care for the environment and the bio-diversity therein.”
He said the production and use of animal vaccines is an important space and tool for conservation, particularly to deal with trans-border animal diseases.
“In Botswana, our 43-year-old national premier pharmaceutical institution called Botswana Vaccine Institute has played its role well. Through its successful production of highly efficacious Foot and Mouth vaccines, the country is able to contain this disease as well as supply vaccines to other countries in the sub-region.:
He has however declared that there is need for more help, saying “We need more capacitation to deal with and contain other types of microbial that affect both animals and human health.”
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Masisi saddened by deaths of elephant attacks
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed a strong worry over elephants killing people in Botswana. When speaking in Virginia this week, Masisi said it is unfortunate that Batswana have paid a price with their own blood through being attacked by elephants.
“Communities also suffer unimaginable economic losses yearly when their crops are eaten by the elephants. In spite of such incidents of human-elephant conflict, our people embrace living together with the animals. They fully understand wildlife conservation and its economic benefits in tourism.”
In 2018, Nthobogang Samokwase’s father was attacked by an elephant when travelling from the fields, where he stayed during the cropping season.
It was reported that the man couldn’t run because of his age. He was found trampled by the elephant and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
In the same year, in Maun, a 57-year-old British woman was attacked by an elephant at Boro and died upon arrival at the hospital. The woman was with her Motswana partner, and were walking dogs in the evening.
Last month, a Durban woman named Carly Marshall survived an elephant attack while on holiday in the bush in Botswana. She was stabbed by one of the elephant’s tucks through the chest and was left with bruises. Marshall also suffered several fractured ribs from the ordeal.
President Masisi Botswana has the largest population of African elephants in the world, totaling more than 130 000. “This has been possible due to progressive conservation policies, partnerships with the communities, and investment in wildlife management programmes.”
In order to benefit further from wildlife, Masisi indicated that government has re-introduced controlled hunting in 2019 after a four-year pause. “The re-introduction of hunting was done in an open, transparent and democratic way, giving the communities an opportunity to air their views. The funds from the sale of hunting quota goes towards community development and elephant conservation.”
He stressed that for conservation to succeed, the local people must be involved and derive benefits from the natural resources within their localities.
“There must be open and transparent consultations which involve all sectors of the society. It is against this backdrop that as a country, we lead the continent on merging conservation, democracy and sustainable development.”
Masisi stated that Botswana is open to collaborative opportunities, “particularly with identifiable partners such as Virginia Tech, in other essential areas such as conservation, and the study of the interplay among the ecology of diseases of wild animals and plants, and their effects on human health and socio-economic development.”
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Gov’t commit to injecting more funds in fighting HIV
Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng says government will continue to make resources available in terms of financial allocations and human capital to ensure that Botswana achieves the ideal of eradicating HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Morwaeng was speaking this morning in Gaborone at the High-Level Advocacy event to accelerate HIV Prevention in Botswana. He said the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAPHA), in partnership with UNAIDS, UN agencies, the Global Fund and PEPFAR, have started a process of developing transition readiness plan for sustainability of HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
“It is important for us, as a country that has had a fair share of donor support in the response to an epidemic such as HIV and AIDS, to look beyond the period when the level of assistance would have reduced, or ceased, thus calling for domestic financing for all areas which were on donor support.”
Morwaeng said this is important as the such a plan will guarantee that all the gains accrued from the response with donor support will be sustained until the end when “we reach the elimination of HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 20230,” he said.
“I commit to continue support efforts towards strengthened HIV prevention, accentuating HIV primary prevention and treatment as prevention towards Zero New Infections, Zero Stigma, Discrimination and Zero AIDS related death, to end AIDS in Botswana.”
He reiterated that government commits to tackle legislative, policy and programming challenges that act as barriers to the achievement of the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
In the financial year 2022/2023, a total of 119 Civil Society Organizations, including Faith Based Organizations, were contracted with an amount of P100 million to implement HIV and NCDs prevention activities throughout the country, and the money was drawn from the Consolidated Fund.
Through an upcoming HIV Prevention Symposium, technical stakeholders will use outcomes to develop the Botswana HIV Prevention Acceleration Road Map for 2023-2025.
Morwaeng stated that government will support and ensure that Botswana plays its part achieving the road map. He said there is need to put hands on the deck to ensure that Botswana sustains progress made so far in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
“There are tremendous achievements thus far to, reach and surpass the UNAIDS fast track targets of 95%- 95%- 95% by the year 2025. As reflected by the BAIS preliminary results of 2021, we now stand at 95- 98- 98 against the set targets.”
“These achievements challenge us to now shift our gears and strive to know who are the remaining 5% for those aware of their HIV status, 2% of enrolment on treatment by those aware of their status and 2% of viral suppression by those on treatment.”
Explaining this further, Morwaeng said shift in gears should extend to coming up with robust strategies of determining where these remaining people are as well as how they will be reached with the necessary services.
“These are just some of the many variables that are required to ensure that as a country, we are well positioned to reaching the last mile of our country’s response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.”