Africa-Press – Botswana. An invisible hand of a prominent businessman, politician and former Cabinet Minister under the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) rule is being blamed for all the issues bedeviling the Palapye Community Development Trust.
In a heated Kgotla meeting held at Palapye Customary court on Friday March 28, angry residents moved a motion of no confidence on the current Board, which they accuse of mismanagement, corruption and irregularities which have crippled the once thriving trust.
While there was a unanimous agreement by residents that the board’s time was up, the meeting which threatened to turn chaotic had to be adjourned to a later date, with the board promising to give a detailed report in three weeks time.
“We were shocked when a day later, the same board issued another letter informing the community that the meeting expected within three weeks will be deferred to a much later date,” said the leader of the concerned residents Stewart Tainton.
This publication has seen a letter in which the board states the reason for the referral was to engage external auditors to perform audits for the financial years 2022, 2023 and 2024, a process they anticipate would take at least two months.
The board proposed 24th March (this Thursday) as the day they’ll address residents.
“We’ve just learnt today that the board has postponed the meeting indefinitely, and plans to rerurn after three months to give us an audit report. That is unacceptable,” cried Tainton.
“We’ve realized that the board is treating this matter lightly and we intend to petition the District Commissioner again and put pressure on them to step down,” he said.
Tainton accused the board members of taking kickbacks from the assets that should be benefiting members of the community.
“They’re all unemployed but living lavishly,” he said.
Following a successful handover of the petition to Assistant District Commissioner (ADC) Tshepo Walter Mogojwe a fortnight ago, Dainton said they have also realised that there is a powerful hand behind the current fracas at the Trust.
“A former Cabinet Minister, and a prominent figure in Botswana politics is pulling the strings. Former board members have made away with considerable amount of money, some meant to pay Tax at BURS, but they’ve never been called to account. They’ve been dismissed and years later they own expensive properties,” he said.
Tainton further said recently the Trust decided to dispose of House of Hope assets including office furniture and hardware without the involvement of the community.
“It was an internal auction. They took lap tops, air conditioners, catering equipment, furniture and everything they could get their hands on,” charged Tainton.
However in an interview with The Voice, Board Chairperson Ikageng Ngwako said some of the accusations are way of the mark.
Ngwako said his board was elected in June 2023 to a Trust that had no money.
“How then can we increase our sitting allowance? It was P880 when we came in, it is still P880,” he said.
Ngwako said while they’ve agreed to give the community a report on the 24th, it won’t carry a lot of weight, and may not tell the true status of the Trust.
“It’s an internal audit, but if you really want to do a thorough job, you need external auditors, so that when you accuse the board of corruption you have all the details from a report prepared by experts,” he said.
The Chairperson said the Trust has never been audited, and there are currently working on the audit from 2022 to 2024.
The Voice also talked to the Trust’s Accountant, Violet Kgosiemang, who rubbished financial irregularities suggested by the petitioners.
“We’ve seen wild accusations about our cleaners earning P8 500 per month. There’s nothing like that. These people should come to our office to get the right information,” she said.
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