WUC workers call on management to explain graft allegations
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday June 16, 2025 12:13
These allegations, the union states, were publicised through social media posts and corroborated by reports in reputable outlets such as Mmegi’s sister publication, The Monitor, dated June 10, 2025, and strike at the core of institutional integrity and public trust.
The Monitor publicised an alleged letter by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) Head of Intelligence, Tshepo Pilane, to Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP) Emmah Peloetletse.
In the said letter, Pilane said it is noteworthy that in 2022, during his acting appointment, he started investigating cases involving prominent persons. They included WUC CEO, Gasennelwe Senai.
'I mentioned the above cases for context. They regarded possible corruption by the persons mentioned. I completed investigations and dutifully handed over the files to my superior, the Director-General (DCEC), Botlhale Makgekgenene,' he said.
'To date, the Director-General has suppressed the files and not acted on the same. After handling the same to her, word leaked to DIS Director-General Peter Magosi that I was investigating him, resulting in death threats to me, which I duly reported.'
Now, the union wants answers from WUC leaders. They state that the said accusations, which cite irregularities and purported malfeasance in the awarding of smart meter tenders, including clandestine meetings and international travel, represent not merely a reputational crisis but a potential breach of fiduciary duty.
“As a recognised stakeholder, BOWASEWU finds such conduct, if substantiated, to be not only unethical but barbaric and antithetical to the principles of transparency and accountability which ought to anchor any public institution,” stated the union.
“We strongly condemn any form of corruption and categorically state that such conduct has no place in the new Botswana. The normalisation of corrupt practices has brought this country to its knees. It has eroded the moral fabric of governance and displaced meritocracy with patronage. BOWASEWU refuses to be a silent spectator in the face of this institutional decay,” the union added.
The union also called upon WUC to urgently convene a press conference to address these allegations, provide clarity, and reaffirm its commitment to clean governance. “Silence or delay shall be construed as tacit admission and will further damage employee morale and public confidence,” the union further stated.
In closing, BOWASEWU reiterated that the workers of WUC demand probity, accountability, and a swift institutional response. “Corruption will not be tolerated, not in our name, and not in the Botswana we seek to build,” the union said.