Africa-Press – Botswana. Seven politicians currently under investigation for corruption are part of 50 high-profile cases that straddle the eras of former president Mokgweetsi Masisi and President Duma Boko and revolve around government procurement issues.
The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is currently conducting investigations that straddle the tenures of former president Mokgweetsi Masisi and incumbent president Duma Boko, the Director General of DCEC, Botlhale Makgekgenene, has said.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) this week, the investigations involve seven politicians who are being probed for corruption as part of 50 high-profile cases.
Makgekgenene, however, declined to disclose the identities of the politicians, citing the sensitive nature of the investigations.
Slow pace
“Some of the politicians served during Masisi’s era, while others are presently serving in Boko’s administration,” she told the PAC.
Makgekgenene added that most of the corruption cases involving politicians revolve around government procurement processes that are increasingly marred by allegations of mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds.
“Unfortunately, none of these political cases have yet been referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP),” said Makgekgenene, expressing concern about the slow pace of the investigations due to staff shortages.
23 cases per detective
She stated that each DCEC investigator is currently handling an average of 23 cases, which is almost three times the international standard of eight cases per officer, leading to significant backlogs.
Makgekgenene disclosed that most of the 50 high-profile corruption cases involve civil servants, with nearly 95 percent linked to procurement irregularities.
She singled out the Ministry of Local Government as the most implicated in the ongoing investigations.
Among the cases are those linked to the controversial Development Manager Model (DMM), a procurement framework that has been widely criticised for lack of transparency and accountability.
Unexplained wealth
DCEC is currently probing eight DMM-related cases, though Makgekgenene would not provide details or name the individuals involved.
The corruption-busting agency has also intensified efforts to clamp down on unexplained wealth through lifestyle audits.
“Sometimes reports are submitted to us by whistleblowers and sometimes we initiate the audits based on visible discrepancies between individuals’ lifestyles and their known sources of income,” Makgekgenene said.
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