Morupisis Await Fate As Trial Ends
Mpho Mokwape | Tuesday December 14, 2021 06:00
The accused persons, who have been on trial on charges ranging from money laundering and abuse of office, appeared in court on Friday for final submissions as the trial came to a close. They are accused of using Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) for personal gain when the former PSP was the fund’s chairperson. During the submissions, the accused persons’ attorney, Busang Manewe detailed Morupisi’s source of income and how the vehicle, the Toyota Land Cruiser he is accused of purchasing with public funds came to be.
Giving details of the Land Cruiser acquisition, Manewe said the vehicle never belonged to his client, but was purchased for his wife’s business and he simply became a signatory to the purchase agreement at the time.
He explained that his client made a deal with a South African company Manor Squad that he would pay R40,000 for the car every six months and that it was never paid with public funds as stated, but an established payment plan. “The company did not have any funds, so he agreed to sign on its behalf since the director was his wife.
He never purchased it with public funds as the state wants to paint the picture,” he said. He explained to the court that following all the agreements and the signing of the papers, payment for the car started and the total payment made at the time was just over R600,000 when he was accused of purchasing it with public pension funds.
Manewe said it was not true what the state wants to insinuate because Morupisi paid for the car using his savings and the sources of funds were either from deposits from his First National Bank account directly or from his Absa account, all of which came from either his salary, his BPOPF pension since he had retired from public service. “There is clear documentation about my client’s money trail and there is nowhere that shows he used public funds. He had sources of income, savings and life insurance policies that paid off, and he was able to pay for the car,” he said.
On account of Morupisi authorising Capital Management Botswana (CMB) to manage BPOPF’s assets by signing its contract on behalf of BPOPF when he knew it was illegal, Manewe said Morupisi was asked to sign the documents by his secretary and that by that time the acting director-general had already signed and inserted a date indicating that it was BPOPF management, who recommended the appointment of the CMB not him. “My client was in fact not present on the day the BPOPF board approved management’s recommendation to appoint CMB and that’s the reason why he signed the contract even though there was a court order suspending the council’s activities.
There was no contempt of court on his part and that he had signed because it was part of his administrative obligations,” Manewe said. The state on one hand believes it has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt that Morupisi abused office and laundered BPOPF funds for his personal use. According to prosecutor Priscilla Israel, Morupisi used public funds to purchase the Land Cruiser for his wife’s company. “It is clear that Morupisi used public funds for his own use and tried to cover it up.
There is strong evidence that he used his position to even sign the contract when he knew it was wrong,” she said. Israel said Morupisi couldn’t even explain the rush in signing the contract despite knowing it was wrong and that he was aware he was almost leaving office even if he didn’t think of benefitting from the whole signing. The case is before Justice Chris Gabannagae.