- Accuses PSP Morupisi of snooping into her private life
- Does not attend meeting to discuss her planned dismissal
- Says Morurpisi colludes with CMB Capital to dismiss her
- Investigator fails to unearth anything damning about her
SONNY SERITE
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund(BPOPF) Boitumelo Molefe has come out with guns blazing, accusing the Permanent Secretary to the President, Carter Morupisi, of applying underhand tactics to try and dismiss her from work. In a recently leaked letter, Molefe has accused Morupisi, who is also Chairman of BPOPF Board of Trustees, of snooping into her private life.
The Botswana Gazette has intercepted a hard hitting letter written by Molefe, addressed to the Chairperson of BPOPF Human Resources and Remuneration Committee, Topias Marenga, detailing Molefe’s concerns over Morupisi’s conduct.
The letter was authored in response to Marenga’s committee’s request to Molefe to attend a ‘‘Special’’ Human Resources and Remuneration Committee meeting that was scheduled for last week Friday, 15th December 2017. According to sources within the BPOPF Board, the meeting was intended to inform Molefe of the decision to terminate her employment. A member of the Board of Trustees, who spoke to this publication on condition of anonymity, has said they are aware of Molefe’s protracted battles with Morupisi. In the letter, Molefe informed the committee that she is unable to honour their request for her to attend the special meeting due to the fact that she had prior personal engagements and was on leave.
‘‘As you are aware, I am currently on leave and request that the meeting be rescheduled for the New Year. I am presently working on my son’s Visa application for university and am required to take him for his visa English examination on the 15th December 2017 (same day scheduled for the meeting),’’ Molefe wrote in the letter.
She further went on to tell the committee that she had been informed as to the purpose behind the meeting. ‘‘While we are at it, I wish to advise that it has come to my attention that the intended HR & Remuneration Committee meeting has been stage-managed by the Chairperson of the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund and CMB Capital to have me dismissed,’’ Molefe charged in the letter.
She alleged that Morupisi instigated investigations into her private life. ‘‘I have also been informed that the Chairperson has an intelligence report from Zimbabwe that has been compiled concerning my personal private life. I am not sure if there is any truth to this but it would be disturbing if that is true,’’ reads part of the letter.
Molefe has also accused Morupisi of colluding with Asset Management firm CMB Capital, to try and expel her from BPOPF. She wrote, ‘‘Further, I have been made aware of meetings between the Chairman and CMB Capital officers in which my dismissal was discussed. Apparently the meetings emanate from concerns regarding the current investigations related to CMB Capital.’’
Molefe emphasised that while she cannot independently verify the allegations she has raised, it had been brought to her attention that CMB Capital has been lobbying some BPOPF Trustees to end the investigation and see to her dismissal. She indicated that there are further allegations to the effect that one of the Trustees has a financial interest in CMB Capital and ‘‘is happy to go along with that plot’’.
‘‘It is my hope that the above allegations are untrue and that the recruitment of Mr Mathews will not be used for any improper motives, in this regard I wish to be advised whether I am under investigation or not,’’ the BPOPF boss wrote. She implored the board to furnish her its resolution that authorised the investigation and the charges she is accused of, if at all there is such an investigation into her alleged misconduct.
A source within the BPOPF board told this publication that Molefe’s detractors want to use the recruitment of one Mathews to find fault her against her, despite the recruitment having been sanctioned by the board. The source confirmed Molefe’s allegations into an investigation into her private life but revealed that the investigation had failed to unearth any wrongdoing on her part. ‘‘The investigator found her to be living a clean life. She is a private person who only enjoys her glass of wine after work,’’ the source said.
Reached for comment, Molefe acknowledged writing a letter to the Chairman of the Human Resources committee but refused to discuss its contents. For his part, Morupisi said he only heard about the letter but has not yet received any official communication regarding the letter. He said he can only respond to the contents of the letter after reading it. Morupisi said Molefe has never approached him to raise any concerns.