The BCP is demanding answers over Peter Magosi’s reported contract extension, questioning how retaining the DIS chief squares with the UDC’s previous calls for intelligence reform.
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has questioned President Duma Boko’s reported decision to extend Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) Director General Brigadier (Rtd) Peter Magosi’s contract, asking whose interests his continued stay at the helm of the intelligence agency would serve.
In a press release, the BCP said Magosi had previously indicated before Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that he intended to leave office when his contract expired in October.
The party is now questioning the rationale for retaining him amid ongoing scrutiny of the DIS and its director general.
The BCP asked why President Boko was pushing for Magosi’s continued tenure and “whose interests” his stay would serve, arguing that, in its view, those interests could not be those of Batswana.
UDC POSITION
The controversy comes amid debate over the government’s handling of the intelligence agency, particularly given the UDC’s previous criticism of the DIS and calls for reform of the institution.
Magosi’s tenure has also come under scrutiny following confirmation by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) in August that it had several active investigations involving the DIS director general. The DCEC said two of the investigations had reportedly been completed and were ready for the next stage of the legal process.
DCEC CLASH
The DCEC has previously been involved in a legal confrontation with the DIS over the 2022 raid and sealing of its offices. The Court of Appeal subsequently found that the DIS had acted unlawfully in sealing the DCEC offices.
Magosi has maintained that he serves the office of the President rather than an individual president. In a 2024 interview, he said his allegiance was to the office and that he was prepared to leave if the new administration decided his services were no longer required.
ELECTION CLAIMS
The BCP’s concerns also come against earlier claims by party president Dumelang Saleshando that Boko had told him the UDC could not have won the 2024 elections without Magosi’s involvement.
Those claims were publicly disputed, with the Independent Electoral Commission maintaining that the 2024 elections were free, fair, transparent and credible.
The controversy over Magosi’s reported extension places fresh scrutiny on the relationship between the presidency and the intelligence agency, as well as the government’s approach to DIS reform and accountability.