DM Catalyst Project Team pockets millions despite ‘poor job’
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday August 13, 2025 08:56
According to the Task Team led by Kabo Motswagole, it was not justified that the CPT Coordinator was in the same salary scale as the Chief Justice, earning P154,443.44 monthly.
According to the report, the CPT had a total staff complement of 12 experts including CPT Coordinator, Legal Advisor, Quantity Surveyor, Architect, Civil/Structural Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Procurement Specialist, Business Strategist, Portfolio Manager, Project Finance Manager, Electrical Engineer and Traffic/Transport Engineer.
“Currently, the establishment register of the CPT shows it has five social scientists, and seven experts from the built environment. The salary scales of the CPT members range from the CJ scale (equivalent to the Chief Justice) who is head of the Judiciary, to E1 scale, which is equivalent to what government directors earn,” the task team found.
CPT was a central component of the quality assurance framework supporting the implementation of the DM model. The CPT was intended to operate as the coordinating body responsible for monitoring project progress, facilitating inter-agency collaboration, and providing technical oversight for TNDP projects managed under the DM framework.
“This role was placed on a salary scale equivalent to that of the Chief Justice, with a monthly remuneration of P154,443.44. Such a high-level salary reflects the weight and authority attached to the position. Yet, despite this, the reporting structure of the role remains ambiguous,” they wrote.
According to the task team, under normal administrative conventions, a position with such seniority comparable to constitutional offices like the Chief Justice would report directly to a minister or even the President. However, in this case, the Catalyst Project Coordinator was placed under the supervision of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, who serves as the accounting officer for the ministry. “This creates a contradiction in authority and accountability, as someone on a Chief Justice-equivalent salary scale would typically hold accounting officer responsibilities independently,” the task team stated.
The team also found that the lack of clarity around the reporting lines and institutional placement of the CPT head has blurred lines of responsibility and introduced confusion in the governance structure. Such ambiguity, they state undermines transparency and weakens accountability mechanisms, particularly in the management of high-value, high-risk infrastructure projects.
“This misstep highlights the broader issue of inadequate change management in the introduction of both the DM model and its implementing structures,” they stated.
CPT recruitment was led by the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) and supported by technical input from relevant government departments. The team was envisioned to work closely with local government authorities through the establishment of mini-CPTs across districts, expanding its reach beyond Gaborone.
“Over time, the CPT became the operational nucleus of the DM model, with the government heavily relying on its reports to manage project implementation and guide payment processes. However, the team has faced significant criticism from various stakeholders. Key concerns include the CPT's encroachment on the mandates of institutions such as the NPC and the Ministry of Finance, and its deviation from established national development planning procedures. Additionally, its limited capacity to monitor projects effectively has raised red flags, particularly given the scale and complexity of infrastructure under its supervision,” the task team found.
According to the task team, field interviews and institutional consultations revealed serious limitations in the CPT’s performance. Engineers from the Department of Roads observed that supervising a single road project effectively would typically require at least 15 engineers from various disciplines, yet the CPT employed only one such specialist to oversee all DM projects nationwide. This shortage of expertise is said to have significantly hampered CPT ability to conduct thorough quality checks.
Furthermore, both the NPC and the Ministry of Finance reportedly cited inconsistencies and irregularities in the CPT’s reporting practices, raising doubts about the reliability of the data used to authorise payments to DMs.
“The Department of Roads echoed these concerns, questioning how CPT managed to facilitate payments despite inadequate reporting. There were also indications of hesitancy within the Permanent Secretaries and Cabinet Committees. Some members reportedly doubted the appropriateness of the DM model but were reluctant to voice these concerns within formal committee structures, reflecting a lack of institutional courage to challenge the prevailing approach,” they wrote.
By January 2025, the task team states that CPT’s operational effectiveness was further compromised by a 25% vacancy rate. Critical positions including the Project Finance Manager, Electrical Engineer, and Traffic/Transport Engineer remained unfilled, weakening CPT’s ability to deliver on its core mandate. “Taken together, these challenges suggest that whilst the CPT was designed as a quality assurance mechanism, it has struggled to meet expectations in both capacity and accountability,' they stated.
The task team has since recommended that the CPT be dissolved. “To reclaim government’s fiscal, legal, and other control of the construction processes ceded to DMs, it is recommended that the CPT be dissolved with notices for termination sent to the respective members of the CPT as an end of contract formality,” the task team wrote.
The team also recommends investigations. “To address consequence management, it is recommended that the matter of DM fees (DM fee, Professional fees, Disbursement, DM risk aspects) be referred to relevant investigative authorities,” they urged.