How CEDA was defrauded P1.7 million
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Counterfeit business land certificate was used to lure CEDA
The loan awarding agency, Citizen Entrepreneurial Development Agency (CEDA) was successfully defrauded of P1.7 million under dubious circumstances, WeekendPost can reveal. It is understood that on submitting the grim and demanding CEDA application form, an applicant lied about possessing a business plot. It turned out that a counterfeit land certificate was used to deceive CEDA to award the loan.
This publication has gathered that had CEDA known about the unscrupulous act of shady dealings, they would have not awarded the loan to the applicant. Investigations conducted by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) revealed that the accused person, Lesedi Lillian Karanja on 6th December 2002, in Maun, fraudulently obtained a Certificate of Customary Land Grant, issued under Section 16 of the Tribal Land Act, purporting that the said Certificate was issued to her by Tawana Land Board whereas in the contrary Tawana Land Board never issued such a Certificate.
Information passed to this publication further indicates that the accused induced attorney Roger Callender to cause a Registrars Seal of the office upon a paper titled “Notorial Deed of Cession of Lease by Lesedi Karanja in favour of Star Point (Proprietary) Limited in respect of Tribal LOT 2728, Maun”, in order that it may be afterwards dealt with as a valuable security.
“As such the valuable security was dealt with by CEDA to issue a Mortgage loan to Star Point (Proprietary) in the sum of P 1,701 000.00 (One Million Seven Hundred and One Thousand Pula), something which CEDA would not have done had the true facts been known to them,” documents which this publication is in possession of, state.
The documents state that on the second count, the accused person, Lesedi Lillian Karanja and her company, Star Point (Proprietary), which is a corporate body registered as such under the Laws of Botswana, on the 3rd of July 2011, at Francistown, acting jointly and in consent, wilfully procured for the, registration of a Tittle Deed, in respect of Lot 2728, Maun.
According to the DCEC charge sheet, the matter ended up in court and the 45 year old business woman was arraigned before Maun Magistrate Mompati Taolo recently and was charged with two counts of Obtaining by False Pretences, contrary to section 314, of the Penal Code (Cap 08:01) Laws of Botswana.
The plea was reserved and the accused persons will appear in court next month – on the 23rd of July 2015. Belida Oaitse of the Directorate on Public Prosecutions (DPP) appeared for the state and the accused, was represented by Wanano Lumbile of the Lumbile legal practitioners.
In an interview with the Weekend Post, DCEC Spokesperson, Nlayidzi Gambule confirmed that indeed CEDA got swindled of P1.7 million by Karanja. The DCEC spokesperson stated that land issue is one of the hitches of distress faced by the corruption busting agency.
“We recognized problems in the land administration that include double allocation of the same plot, counterfeit land certificates, fraudulent allocation, bribery, abuse of office and deviant conduct due to the unrestrained interaction with land applications who desperately need land and have the means to bribe,” Nlayidzi asserted.
Meanwhile, there are growing complaints in some quarters of the society that the corruption busting agency pitifully targets the small man on the street and that when it comes to a big fish the matters are usually not charged and/or lost at the courts of law on ‘technicalities’ – a concern which has also reached the DCEC office.
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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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