Who are Katlholo, Magosi?
Staff Writer | Sunday May 15, 2022 20:02
Katlholo
He is the managing director of Tyedo Investments (Pty) Ltd where he is an anti-corruption specialist. Having pioneered the DCEC, Katlholo was brought back to the helm of the graft-busting agency in 2020 on a three-year contract after Joseph Mathambo was unceremoniously chucked out and returned to the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) army barracks.
Indeed Katlholo has had a distinguished career in fighting fraud and corruption. He and his now late former deputy at the CID, Ramsden Ramogola are some of the country’s crack detectives who prior to the formation of the DCEC, helped fight corruption at the Botswana Housing Corporation of yesteryear where they destroyed many careers and helped the country recover funds and stolen property.
Katlholo will always be remembered for his vow when he took up his current job: “No one is going to tell me who to investigate, how to investigate and when to investigate.”
His investigative prowess has even caught the eye of the sitting President, Mokgweetsi Masisi, who agreed to Katlholo being given a three-year contract to come back and fight corruption and economic crime.
Amongst other things, Masisi has made fighting corruption his main project and was confident that Katlholo is the man who can help him achieve his targets.
Magosi
A local investigative outfit, Ink Centre for Investigative Journalism in a previous published piece described Magosi as a died-in-the-wool military man who has attracted his own fair of controversy, particularly in connection with the killing of alleged career criminal, John Kalafatis.
He joined the army at the age of 22 and progressed through the ranks until he attained the rank of Brigadier. Until he was booted out of his job in 2014 by then president Ian Khama, Magosi headed the army’s Military Intelligence unit. He has a reputation of having been a member of the BDF’s Special Forces that have a reputation of wreaking havoc.
His exit from the army followed reports that he had misplaced army surveillance equipment used to intercept communication with other reports that he had lent it to a minister of state. He prevailed over the government of Khama after he was court-martialled over the missing spy equipment and he would later rush to court forcing government to settle his case out of court in his favour. It was Khama who later fired him from the army. When Khama ally, Isaac Kgosi was dismissed from the DIS, as part of Masisi’s cleansing of the public service, Magosi became Masisi’s favourite.