Parliament initiates BNYC probe
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BNYC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Benjamin Raletsatsi
This week, Parliament unanimously endorsed Ignatius Moswaane’s motion calling for government to set up a task force to investigate reports of corruption and maladministration at the Botswana National Youth Council (BNYC).
Presenting the motion to parliament, the Member of Parliament for Francistown West had requested that government suspends termination of contracts of some BNYC employees until investigations are completed. Following the ongoing restructuring process, BNYC Executive Director Benjamin Raletsatsi wrote to 33 employees informing them that their contracts will not be renewed.
The Executive Director had explained to the employees that he had been instructed by the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture to lay off staff, something which Moswaane said defeated the whole purpose of government creating and maintaining jobs.
Moswaane made startling revelations about the troubled organisation regarding corruption and maladministration propagated by the current management. In the wake of the revelations, it has surfaced that BNYC had purchased 17 vehicles without a tender in which P4.5 million was obtained from staff gratuity while the better part of the money came from a loan obtained at Wesbank. It is understood that the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture (MYSC) was to clear the loan. MYSC has since instructed that the 17 cars which were purchased and delivered throughout the districts be parked and not be used.
Moswaane had also pointed out at maladministration regarding appointments alleging favouritism. “The Finance Manager was appointed without having gone for an interview and was employed on a 5 year contract without probation, compared to other employees’ 3 year contracts,” he said.
It is has also been established that BNYC at one point purchased 10 suits at the total cost of P57 000 for personal use by staff, with half of the amount being paid before delivery. The remaining amount was later paid and the process of procurement was signed by directors and board members within BNYC.
This publication has also learnt that a Toyota double cab vehicle was contracted by BNYC for the Executive Director but upon termination of the contract in which a colossal amount was paid, Raletsatsi was still using the car, raising suspicion that he could have rented a vehicle belonging to him or a friend to the organization. More information reveals that even after termination of the contract Raletsatsi continues to use the car, fuelling it at the expense of BNYC through the fuel voucher kept by the Executive Director.
More money from BNYC has been siphoned through the pretext of contracting consultancy companies, HR issues and restructuring in which over P400 000 was spent without any call for companies to bid for the tender. It has also emerged that some employees were brought in under the pretext of providing consultancy but later were employed by the BNYC.
A company called Profit Masters (Pty) Ltd continues to be a major beneficiary from BNYC under the pretext that it is providing consultancy including for the BNYC-BTC project. Allegations are that the company has since pocketed over a million pula.
The Executive Director’s businesses have also been implicated in misuse of the organisation’s money. Evidence linking the above inference is verified by an event in which an invoice was sent to BNYC for payment of providing training, upon making a follow-up on the payment enquired, the person who answered the phone was an employee at a Samsung Shop at Rail Park Mall, owned by BNYC Executive Director.
While employees’ contracts were not renewed, some who are said to be the Executive Director’s allies have been given six months extensions. It has also come to this publications’ attention that management positions are dominated by new employees, including those who initially joined the organisation as interns.
This publication is also aware that the Chairperson of the BNYC, Louis Benedice Sibanda will be subject to investigation as a result of his involvement in administration duties which are supposed to be handled by the secretariat. The decision by Sibanda and his team to be hands on, believed to be the basis of maladministration has thrown the organization into turmoil.
Moswaane’s motion could not be debated for two weeks and caused chaos in parliament following the Speaker of National Assembly Gladys Kokorwe and her deputy, Kagiso Molathegi’s decision not to allow it to be debated. In protest, MPs walked out of parliament on two occasions when the motion was deferred causing the quorum to collapse and ultimately, the end of parliament business.
The opposition parties had however voiced their concern with regard to government being mandated with the task of carrying out the investigations. Opposition instead had preferred the establishment of a Special Select Committee to deal with the investigations, an amendment which was moved by MP for Gaborone Bonnington South, Ndaba Gaolathe.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she 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.