Police embroiled in P17 million tender corruption allegations
Sharon Mathala | Monday August 21, 2023 06:00
The BPS has admitted to blunders with the procurement of the motorbikes but denied they flouted any process in the awarding of the tender.
An excuse is that the BPS was under pressure to deliver the VIP protection bikes following the visit of seven heads of State and their representatives from Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Eswatini and Niger joining President Mokgweetsi Masisi for the recent US-Africa Business Summit hosted here recently.
The tender, which was eventually awarded at P17,622,313.80 involves the supply and delivery of the police escort motorcycles. The company, Brilliant Concepts (Pty) Ltd was awarded the tender through a direct appointment.
The company allegedly does not have a garage, manpower or any workshop locally. A quick search of the company on the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) website, shows that it is owned by one Oteng 'Piero' Dipheko and was registered in May 2020, a few months before the first call out of the multi-million pula tender. The allegations come in a whistleblowing report made to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) as well as a report to the parent Ministry of Defence and Security.
According to the report made to the Ministry and leaked to Mmegi, "the company did not meet certain requirement for the tender, Brilliant Concepts (Pty) Ltd is a mere shelf company operating from a home address in Phase 4. It does not have a legitimate office or any significant presence in the business landscape." Further alleged the report: "This alarming revelation leads me to believe that the company is serving as a front for unscrupulous procurement officials within the Ministry of Defence and Security.
Brilliant Concepts (Pty) Ltd did not even participate in the previous tender for Escort Motorcycles (Tender No: DJS/MTC/POL 058/2021-2022). The previous tender required companies to have fully-fledged workshops to service the vehicles, and reputable companies like Suzuki Botswana, Yamaha, Commercial Motors, and BL Motor Cycles were invited to participate. It is baffling how a shelf company like Brilliant Concepts, which lacks an established workshop and did not even participate in the previous tender, could be granted a direct appointment in the current procurement process." The whistle blower’s report made to the Ministry and the DCEC further alleges: “It is crucial to note that Brilliant Concepts (Pty) Ltd has no previous business history with the Botswana government. The selection of this particular company over others, without any apparent justification, raises questions about the impartiality of the tender evaluation. The lack of transparency regarding the selection process contributes to my belief that corruption is at play.” Whilst the DCEC claimed ignorance of the complaints letter, the BPS has defended their position.
They admit that there may have been blunders with the procurement of the bikes, but deny they flouted any procurement procedure. Mmegi spoke to BPS spokesperson, Dipheko Motube who explained the blunders and why they chose the direct appointment of the company. "The BPS had first flighted the tender back in 2021 and it was awarded to a certain company which failed to deliver. The same tender was awarded again in 2022 , which again failed to deliver," explained Motube. He added: “These guys failed to deliver.
They had been paid a down payment, but they still failed. The next year we again flighted the same tender, it was won by a different person, and again failed to deliver,” the police spokesperson explained. The frustrated police say they were sent from pillar to post with the previous companies when they demanded delivery of the VIP motorbikes.
“The BPS business was really suffering because we needed those bikes. There was nothing we could work with. We were about to host visitors, but the police arm was not functioning. We needed to use the direct appointment route , which is a lawful way of procuring any service,” Motube confirmed. Asked how many bikes have been delivered so far, Motube confirmed 10 bikes out of the 30 needed. Infact, initially the police needed 70 motorbikes and had to cut down to 30 because they had already exhausted their budgets paying companies which did not deliver.
“We had to cut down on what we needed because some of the funds had already been spent in the previous two transactions,” he said. Further responding to concerns raised that the company was still new at the time and had not done work for government nor handled any work of such magnitude, Motube dismissed this. Mmegi further reached out to the company owner who also confirmed having been awarded the tender through direct appointment.
He, however, denied any possibility of corruption in the awarding of the tender. Dipheko admitted that he does not have any garage or manpower to service the bikes. “I may not have any garage, but I have a workshop which I will use, should the need arise, to host experts from South Africa to attend to the bikes. I am a deserving Motswana just like anyone else,” he told Mmegi. According to him, he has delivered some of the bikes and will complete his part of the tender soon. The company owner pointed a finger at bitter companies that had been dominating the market for far too long saying just because his company is new and had not done any multi-million pula work before does not mean he is not capable.