Morupisi marathon case
Mpho Mokwape | Monday October 31, 2022 06:00
The much-anticipated verdict was postponed at least three times in a row since the trial ended without much explanation.
As it has been a long wait, it is expected that the verdict would be read, but for the former PSP, it seems it is something that does not bother him at all as he is not waiting on the sidelines like everyone else but he is already on the forefront flexing his muscles for his political ambitions.
Morupisi has been the latest key figure to enter the political fight in the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) without having to wait for his fate regarding his pending case.
Looking at the happenings of the case, this was a matter in which together with his wife, he was on trial for charges ranging from money laundering and abuse of office, relating to the use of funds belonging to the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) allegedly for personal gain. That was at the time when the former PSP was the fund’s chairperson.
The case was concluded last year December and the verdict was initially scheduled for May 3, 2022 but it was postponement one after the other. The Morupisis trial had attracted a lot of public interest especially for a man who was deemed ‘arrogant’ by many while he was still holding public office and they have been waiting to hear his verdict for a long time.
While the public will be happy to know what the outcome of the case for the State is, it would be a test to see if one of the key figures they went after in pursuit of President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s desire to curb corruption, will result in the much needed conviction.
Morupisi was removed from office in 2019 following his charges while he was still holding office in relation to the alleged misappropriation of the BPOPF funds. As a result, Masisi was forced to suspend him and subsequently his contract lapsed during the suspension and it was not renewed forcing him to leave public office earlier than he had thought.
After his charges and departure from public office, Morupisi kept a low profile except when he was appearing in court and he was silent despite once promising to talk to the media. He would later join the BPF in December 2020 resuscitating his political ambitions and clearly showing his political loyalty following the fallout out with his former boss, Masisi.
Meanwhile, back to the case, the embattled Morupisi and his wife’s matter unraveled a complex mess within the BPOPF and the signing of contracts. Legal experts were even stunned by the agreements’ provisions and its demands on the BPOPF were beyond belief to the extent that it was mind-boggling how a pension fund with an arsenal of lawyers could agree to the establishment of such a deal. Capital Management Botswana (CMB) itself, in private correspondence to the pension fund at the height of the dispute, also touched on this asymmetry. “Clearly the BPOPF has an army of legal advisors on this matter.
That being the case, since the secretariat (BPOPF executive management) took the premeditated decision to deliberately default, why did it not ask its army of lawyers as to what the consequences would be,” CMB managing director, Rapula Okaile wrote to the BPOPF on December 19, 2017. The BPOPF itself, late in the dispute, hinted that parts of the deal with BPOPF could have been structured better. This unraveled a mess within the BPOPF while Morupisi was at its helm and was accusing him of misappropriating the pension fund's money and in the process also allegedly benefitting for himself and his wife. Subsequently, the mess resulted in a lengthy trial after being accused of using public funds in which Morupisi had allegedly purchased a Toyota Land Cruiser for his wife’s business reportedly with the funds diverted from the BPOPF coffers.
The State, which is gunning for a conviction of the pair, has maintained that Morupisi allegedly laundered money between his account and a company called Manor Squad Services that purchased a disputed vehicle on his behalf. The State further alleges that there were many transactions that happened between an account held by Morupisi and Manor Squad. According to the description of the company, which was reported to have received considerable amounts from the BPOPF and Capital Management Botswana (CMB), Manor Squad is registered in South Africa and at the time of the alleged offences, one of its directors was Okaile, the former director of CMB.
“The company developed properties called Manor Gardens in Durban sometime in 2016 and this company according to the forensics, received several transfers of money in millions from CMB in 2016 and that it received about seven transactions on different occasions from Morupisi’s account, of which the total amount was about P211,520.64 meant to pay for a Toyota Land Cruiser,” alleged the State.
The Cruiser was apparently purchased at a total of P630, 988.99, alleged to be proceeds of crime, as they were reportedly funds from BPOPF and CMB. In all these many transactions carried between all these accounts including those of BPOPF and CMB, it is alleged that Morupisi while employed as the Permanent Secretary to the President, he allegedly authorised CMB to administer the BPOPF funds as private equity managers and obtained valuable consideration for himself and his wife’s company.
He is accused of acting together with the wife in her personal capacity and as the director of the R7 Group to receive a valuable consideration to buy the Land Cruiser for himself and his wife’s company. In turn Morupisi denied getting money from BPOPF and that there was paper trail as to how he was able to purchase the vehicle for his wife. He explained that there was absolutely nothing criminal that he did and that he signed some papers only because he was obliged to sign the agreement on behalf of BPOPF in terms of the rules of the fund.
The accused persons say that the State’s case had been destined to fail from the beginning because it was built on wild and startling suspicions and also failure to handle exhibits properly.