Boko's P100 billion 'Butterfly' headache
Oarabile Mosikare | Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:15
For years, Batswana watched, some in silence, others complicit, as a once respectable democracy was tarnished by a regime that is still criticised by many even after its electoral loss. State institutions were weaponised to brand political rivals with fabricated charges of money laundering and terrorism financing. The charges, targeting figures such as former president Ian Khama, the late former spy chief Isaac Kgosi, South African businesswoman Bridgette Motsepe, and DIS agent, Welheminah 'Butterfly' Maswabi, were ultimately dismissed by the High Court as baseless fiction.
The fallout was swift. In October 2018, Botswana was greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), labelled a jurisdiction with “strategic deficiencies” in fighting financial crime. The issue lingered, with European Union regulators even deeming Botswana a high-risk country in 2019.
Although Botswana was removed from the grey list in 2021 following substantial reforms, the reputational damage had already been done. But the 'Butterfly' scandal remained a cautionary tale, reflecting how state power, when abused, can shatter national credibility.
Last week, a milestone moment arrived. The Attorney General and Motsepe finalised a settlement resolving her P20 million defamation lawsuit. The government agreed to issue public retractions and apologies in major international outlets across the US, UK, South Africa, and Botswana.
Reactions were mixed: some praised the outcome as overdue accountability; others accused Boko’s administration of soft pedaling, noting the key perpetrators remain in office. Critics note a stark continuity: not a single dismissal has happened. Citizens voted for change, but see only the same officials running the same machinery.
It’s a sensitive issue. The new man, President Boko, has said repeatedly: 'If the state knows it is wrong, it should not fight citizens in court.' A source close to the President says Boko is determined to resolve the matter decisively. 'He just wants the case concluded. He does not see the point of spending millions of taxpayer pula defending a lie”.
Attorney Ofentse Khumomotse, who represented the government in the Motsepe settlement, echoed the position. “There was no pressure from Khama. None whatsoever,” he said. “The client, in this case, the government, chose to settle. Continuing to litigate what had already been discredited would have been indefensible, especially with the FATF evaluation looming.”
Khumomotse dismissed critics of the settlement as misinformed. “Much of the outrage is based on speculation. A lawyer follows the client’s instructions. This was the most strategic and cost-effective route, ” he said.
Boko spoke on the issue head-on earlier this year, during a keynote at the University of Botswana’s judicial colloquium. The gathering of High Court and Court of Appeal judges heard him declare: “Botswana had become a threat in the international financial system,” he said, directly referencing the Butterfly case. He asked poignantly: “How did we come to accuse a young Motswana of financing terrorism?”
That rhetorical question has become a national reckoning. The timing is critical. Botswana is due for its third Mutual Evaluation by FATF in 2027. FATF is now posing hard questions: What is the government doing to rectify the P100 billion case? What structural reforms have been made to shore up anti-money laundering and counterterror financing systems?
Still, public unease lingers. Citizens expected institutional changes, but the government is walking a fine line: avoid self-underrmining tactics, yet demonstrate that the message of reform applies to both laws and people.
In the world of global finance, being thought to enable terrorism, even by accident, is not a theoretical risk. It invites serious consequences. International institutions and correspondent banks flag such jurisdictions as “high-risk.”
The result: frozen transactions, suspended development aid, slowed investor interest, and severed financial ties. In extreme cases, countries suspected of terrorism financing are cut off from the global banking system: their citizens and businesses are unable to move money across borders. That’s the dark shadow Botswana flirted with when the fabricated 'Butterfly' case spun out of control. That’s why the stakes are so high now. In 2027, Botswana faces its third Mutual Evaluation by FATF. Already, the task force is asking: What lessons were learned from the P100 billion case? What guarantees are in place to ensure it never happens again?