The Public Accounts Committee is considering whether to summon the Finance Ministry’s Permanent Secretary over the revival of a Moti proposal previously rejected on cost grounds.
SESUPO RANTSIMAKO
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is considering summoning Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Tshokologo Alex Kganetsano to explain how businessman Zunaid Moti’s investment proposal with Government was revived after the ministry had initially rejected it on cost grounds.
PAC Weighs Summons
PAC chairman Taolo Lucas told The Botswana Gazette that the committee will deliberate on the matter when it meets next month and could decide to convene an urgent sitting to summon Kganetsano.
“We have a committee meeting next month for a separate issue, but we will use the opportunity to deliberate on the Moti issue and decide whether we could convene and summon the PS to come and explain,” Lucas said.
I Don’t Have Answers
Responding to questions from this publication this week about the budget for the African Hero project, Finance Minister Kganetsano said he was unable to provide answers and referred the matter to the Ministry of Basic Education.
“I am unable to respond to any of your questions because I do not have answers. You may wish to engage the Ministry for Basic Education,” Kganetsano said.
BCP Demands Probe
The Botswana Congress Party (BCP) this week called for the PAC to urgently demand answers over Government’s dealings with Moti, particularly the decision to revive a proposal to construct schools and clinics that had previously been rejected by the Ministry of Finance.
The BCP wants to know what changed between the ministry’s initial rejection and the project’s subsequent return, and who authorised the reversal.
Finance Reversal
In a statement issued this week, the BCP said Kganetsano had stated in 2025 that the Moti deal was “too costly” and had been rejected.
“That rejection was not a rumor. It was official. Yet the deal is back bigger, hungrier, and dripping with political protection. Who crushed the Ministry’s objection? Who authorized the override? We want this person to be named,” the BCP said.
The party has called on Parliament to convene a special PAC meeting as a matter of urgency and says it is prepared to bear the full cost if Parliament cites lack of funds.
School Fuels Questions
The controversy has intensified following the recent launch of a school in Gaborone associated with Moti’s African Hero initiative, renewing questions about the relationship between the businessman and Government and the public-finance and procurement processes surrounding the project.
Decision Pending
Lucas stressed that any decision to summon the Permanent Secretary rests with the committee. “We have to deliberate as a committee and make a decision,” he said.