Serite explains his CEDA 'deals'
Staff Writer | Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:03
Serite said as a brand ambassador, he isn't a CEDA employee and is not bound by CEDA conditions of work and service. 'I’m a contracted service provider,' Serite explained to The Monitor. Lately, Serite has been trending on social media following accusations that he is corrupt and used his position as the CEDA brand ambassador to push his business interests. The individual at the centre of the accusations posted what he said was a conflict of interest and corruption committed by Serite and the leadership of CEDA. There was also an allegation that Serite used his influence at CEDA to promote his businesses and get funding for those business interests. 'I’m not even in the Human Resource (HR) structure, meaning my role doesn't even appear in the CEDA HR structure because I’m a service provider like many companies,' he explained.
He further said at CEDA he reports to the Head of Marketing and Communications. 'The Head of Marking and Communications doesn't sit in any of the committees that decide loan applications,' he said. Serite denied allegations that he is a co-owner of RocoMamas Restaurant at Toro Junction Mall in Francistown. He took the time to explain where the confusion might have arisen. He said he registered RocoMamas Toro Proprietary Limited with one Gaofenngwe Koosimile. 'We registered this company when the Toro Mall was being constructed with the intention to open a RocoMamas Restaurant there. RocoMamas then told us we couldn’t open a company in the name of RocoMamas because this is a trading name/business name used for all RocoMamas that are owned by different people all over the country. We then abandoned the idea but as you know records were already captured at CIPA (Companies and Intellectual Property Authority) and they are still there in their system,' he said.
Koosimilwe then opened the RocoMamas Toro Junction restaurant with his company Matish (Pty) Limited and bought the franchise name from RocoMamas. 'The RocoMamas Toro in Francistown is just a trading name and not a company name,' adding that Koosimile is the real owner of RocoMamas Restaurant in Francistown. 'I don’t know if you understand the difference between company name and trading name. That’s exactly what is going on. There are RocoMamas in Gabs, F-town, and Maun, they are all owned by different people under their different companies but using the franchise name RocoMamas.' Another bone of contention was his ownership of Elephant Paw Proprietary Limited. He said his interest in establishing his Safari Vehicle Rental was declared to the CEDA board before he could put in his loan application. And this was after making sure CEDA hadn't funded anyone with the same business before. 'I applied in 2021 and was only funded in 2024 after back and forth because the Credit Department wanted me to provide a lot of things first, such as contribution and security. I was only funded after satisfying all those requirements,' he said. The car rental business owns only two vehicles and Serite said that it has never done any business with CEDA.
He added: 'I have a CEDA branded vehicle that I use as a brand ambassador so there is really no need to hire me a vehicle from any company. So CEDA has never leased it for me or anyone at CEDA. It has never been used for CEDA work. In fact, even when I use my personal or company vehicles I continue to do CEDA work with my resources because I’m a brand ambassador 24/7 and as such every time I meet people who want me to assist with CEDA I just help them not say no, today I’m using my own vehicle and not CEDA vehicle,' he said. He revealed that he has seen all the social media posts that claim he has several companies, the majority of which were funded by CEDA. 'And to correct you, they didn't even come as allegations but rather as accusations. The person who shared them presented them as evidence and verdict. His verdict as presented to his followers is that I’m guilty. I can categorically state that I don't own the RocoMamas Toro franchise in Francistown or anywhere else for that matter. 'It’s painful that the evidence is right there on the CIPA portal but no one seems to pick it. They are fixated on the RocoMamas Proprietary Limited where my name correctly appears but that’s not the company that owns the RocoMamas Toro franchise and that’s not the company that was funded by CEDA,' Serite said. On the Safari car rental company, he confirmed it was partly funded by CEDA after all due diligence was carried out.
'I qualify for CEDA funding as a Motswana. I qualify for CEDA funding because I’m not an employee of CEDA and as such I’m not bound by the conditions of work and service that apply to CEDA employees. I’m a service provider. That is why I don't qualify for CEDA to provide me with medical aid cover, mortgage loan, personal loan, leave days and all other benefits that come with being an employee of CEDA,' he said. He revealed that he has engaged a lawyer and his engagement will be publicly known soon. 'There’s a reason we delayed to release a statement from the lawyer and there’s a reason I decided to stop engaging my accusers on social media. The court of Facebook has already found me guilty so I want the Court of Law of the Republic of Botswana to also give its verdict after my accuser and I present our evidence,' he said. Another allegation/accusation is that he obtained information as a journalist to investigate CEDA, but bargained for a brand ambassadorship with the information that was allegedly damning against some people in the CEDA leadership. He laughed at the allegation before adding that he has been an investigative journalist for many years and no one has ever successfully sued him. 'Do you know why? Because I don’t get overly excited by leads and proceed to publish without substantiating the allegations presented before me. Funny enough, the same source forgets that I have written and published articles after she provided me with leads that I eventually substantiated. The only document I didn’t publish is the one she has now shared, which has a list of names of alleged CEDA clients. The reason I didn’t publish it was because I picked so many red flags from it and I couldn’t substantiate the allegations carried in the document,' he said.
As a journalist, he explained you only publish after you are satisfied you will be able to defend your article before the courts of law. 'And guess what happened after I didn’t publish that document, one journalist went ahead and published it and he was sued by some of the people mentioned in that document. The journalist and the newspaper had to apologise and ask to settle out of court, because they didn’t have anything to prove their case beyond the document that was presented by this same source,' Serite said.