Magosi’s DIS attacks BPOPF money loot
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The Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) under Brigadier Magosi has stepped in to try and solve the mystery surrounding the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) conundrum of the P500 million of pensioners’ money which may have vanished.
Last week DIS agents arrested and locked up Rapula Okaile’s wife in what the family has ascribed to “harassment and ill-treatment”. Phones were confiscated because the DIS officers want to extract information from the gadgets. The DIS joins other security organs that are trying to get to the bottom of the BPOPF, Capital Management Botswana (CMB) saga. The DIS under Magosi seems keen on this case and they are already getting their hands soiled to expedite investigations.
An officer of the DCEC, Goitseone Esely has stated on a replying affidavit that the DCEC is presently investigating the Botswana Opportunity Partnership (BOP) into which a commitment of P500m was made by Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) on the inception of the contract between it and CMB in 2014.
CMB is the general manager of BOP where BPOPF is a limited partner and has contributed the sum of P477m to be invested and managed by CMB. There is a reasonable suspicion that some of the funds were diverted to CMB accounts and in turn ended up financing the vehicles owned by WARENTEBO Investment.
She stated that the impounded vehicles might have been acquired through proceeds of crime, and that they were seized in the course of lawful investigations under the DCEC Act. Okaile and his wife Neo had recently approached the court on urgent basis, seeking an order for the release of their eight motor vehicles impounded by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) last month. The applicants’ contention was that their vehicles have been seized without the due process of law such as a warrant or lawful authorization.
It was then that the judge dealt with the issue concerning the motor vehicle registered under CMB. The DCEC had submitted that none of the applicants has the authority to claim it since CMB is presently under statutory management pending a judgement due next week. The court had in the previous mention in a matter concerning the appointment of Mr Peter Collins as statutory manager, ruled that Collins’s appointment shall remain effective pending the finalization of the matter.
On the same token, Capital Management Botswana (CMB) is playing hardball with BPOPF following the High Court’s rejection of an application by Non-Bank Financial Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA) through which it had wanted to appoint a Statutory manager (Peter Collins) over CMB. BPOPF had issued an Arbitration Notice in a bid to recover over P400 million whose whereabouts have not been disclosed and it belongs to the 150 000 pensioners of the Botswana public service. On 14 May 2018 BPOF lawyers wrote to the Botswana Institute of Arbitrators (BIA) for intervention after CMB failed to honour the Arbitration Notice within the recognized 20 days. CMB has instead made hard demands on the part of BPOPF.
The Partnership Agreement states that “Any dispute between any of the Parties arising in connection with this Agreement or its subject matter shall be submitted to an finally resolved by arbitration in accordance with arbitration rules of Botswana Institute of Arbitrators (BIA)…”
BPOPF entered into a Partnership Agreement with Capital Management Botswana (CMB) Limited in November 2014. CMB was a general partner of the Botswana Opportunity Partnership (the ‘Fund’) for the period commencing on its formation of the Fund and terminating on 1 December 2017 by BPOPF who are the sole Limited Partner of the Fund.
The BPOPF invested the sum of P477 million in the Botswana Opportunity Partnership (BOP) to be managed by CMB in terms of the BOP agreement between the two. CMB then disposed of the investment and only paid P50 million to BPOPF. The BPOPF has tried to tell the court that a balance of P400 million was at stake. But Judge in the NBFIRA case, Justice Motumise has argued that “the question before me is not the recovery of the P400 million or to secure it, wherever it is and thus to protect it from loss.
In fact, I have not been told where it is so that I can secure it from such loss. What I am called upon to do, in these proceedings is to decide whether to confirm the appointment of a statutory manager over CMB.” The money at stake was an investment made in terms of the BOP Agreement which states that:
“The General Partner shall be entitled, and is hereby irrevocably authorized by defaulting Limited Partner, to dispose of the Defaulting Limited Partner’s interest in Botswana Opportunity Partnership to one or more third parties at such price and on such terms and conditions as the General Partner, in its sole and absolute discretion, deems fit, provided that the General Partner first offers such interest, at the same price and on the same terms, first to the non-Defaulting Limited Partner pro rata to their respective Capital Commitments and then (if any remains) to the non-defaulting Fund LPs of any Parallel Fund pro rata to their respective capital commitments to such.”
WHY THE P400 million is GONE
Except as provided in clause 26 or any loss suffered due to any grossly negligent, reckless, fraudulent or willful misconduct activities by the General Partner, neither the General Partner nor the any of its affiliates shall be liable for the return of the Capital Commitments of any Partner, and such return shall be made solely from available Fund Assets, if any, and each Limited Partner hereby waives any and all claims it may have against the General Partner or any Affiliate thereof in this regard.”
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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.”