Africa-Press – Botswana. Thirteen arts entities are questioning the legitimacy of the National Arts Council of Botswana and have instructed lawyers for the purpose.
A conflict is unfolding in Botswana’s arts sector where 13 entities are exploring legal action against the National Arts Council of Botswana (NACB) over its composition and alleged breach of contract and exclusionary practices amid the ongoing 2025 National Arts Festival.
The arts entities are the Botswana Visual Arts Association (BOVAA), Botswana Association of Theatre Activists (BAOTA), Botswana Poetry and Story Telling Association, the DJ Association of Botswana, the Mogolokwane Association, the Folklore Association of Botswana, the Comedy Association of Botswana, the Clap and Tap Association of Botswana, Botswana Fashion Association, Ngwao Loshalaba Association of Botswana, the Botswana Musicians Union, the Botswana Choral Association and Reetsang Association of Community Drama Groups.
Key requirement
They have instructed J.J Matomela Attorney, Conveyancers and Notaries to take the matter up on their behalf on the grounds that NACB has failed to meet the requirements of its founding legislation.
Their chief concern is that the Council has never held an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and has not formally recognised its affiliates, which is a key requirement for its legal standing.
Adding to the issues is an alleged agreement signed on 24 June 2025 in which the associations were contracted to coordinate and administer the National Arts Festival. However, according to these organisations, NACB has since bypassed the agreement and has allegedly engaged external entities, in the process “poaching” individual members from their organisations.
Provisions of NACB Act
In response, the Marketing and Communications Manager of NACB, Kutlwano Monnamoncho, has dismissed the allegations and insists that the Council is acting within its mandate as provided for by the NACB Act.
“The NACB is a statutory body operating under the authority of the law,” Monnamoncho said in an interview. “We are not poaching anyone. We work with both artists and associations, and only those properly registered with the Registrar of Societies.
“We met with some arts associations on the 24th of June to discuss the new concept of the National Arts Festival and to explore ways that NACB and the associations can work together to implement the programme.
New turn of events
“This matter is still on the NACB table and discussions are still ongoing. The NACB has not contravened the Act that governs its mandate. The NACB is an entity that upholds the precepts of the law as per its founding piece of legislation.”
In a new turn of events, it has emerged that only seven of the 13 arts entities are currently compliant with registration requirements, according to BOMU vice president, Letsweletse Moshabi. He acknowledged the compliance gap in an interview but maintained that NACB’s own governance is in deeper violation.
“NACB is not compliant,” said Moshabi. “The Act provides that the Council must have affiliates such as associations, groups and individuals. However, as we speak, this has not taken place but it has been about three years since the Council was established.
“The Council is not in compliance”
“The board is elected at the Council’s AGM but the Council has never held an AGM since its inception. The minister only appoints six members of the board and the rest of the board members are elected by affiliates at the AGM. If the provisions of the Act are not met, the Council is not in compliance.”
As the legal team pursues action on compliance matters, it has withdrawn from challenging the National Arts Festival competitions to avoid possibly losing on technicalities in court.
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