State fails to strike out corruption claims against Magosi, Masisi
Mpho Mokwape | Monday September 1, 2025 06:01
Justice Zein Kebonang, yesterday, in his ruling, held that the allegations of corruption, abuse of power, and unlawful arrest raised in the plaintiff’s declaration are neither scandalous, vexatious, nor irrelevant, but rather central to her case.
“Seeking to bury allegations of theft, abuse of power, and corruption is no reason to strike out the allegations,” the judge said.
The plaintiff, Kuda Malikongwa, a Deputy Director of Legal Services for the DIS, had instituted legal proceedings against her employer and the Botswana Police Service in October 2024, alleging unlawful arrest, detention, and suspension.
In her claim, she accused the Director General of the DIS, Peter Magosi, of orchestrating her arrest after she refused to participate in a corrupt procurement transaction involving Karakul sheep allegedly intended for former President, Mokgweetsi Masisi.
She alleged that Magosi instructed her to bypass procurement regulations and authorise payment for livestock from Uzbekistan using state funds, all while keeping the transaction hidden from key government officials. When she refused, she claims she was falsely accused of leaking confidential information and suspended from her position.
The State had argued that the plaintiff’s allegations were scandalous, irrelevant, and breached the Intelligence and Security Services Act, which prohibits the disclosure of classified information.
However, Justice Kebonang held that allegations of corruption and abuse of office cannot be shielded under claims of confidentiality, especially when public funds and state power are allegedly misused.
According to the ruling, Justice Kebonang emphasised that Malikongwa’s allegations provided critical context for her arrest and suspension and were therefore relevant to the core question of whether her detention was unlawful.
“The fact that the Attorney General or Government seek to bury allegations of theft, abuse of power and corruption is no reason to strike out the allegations made,” he said.
Addressing the issue of confidentiality under the DIS Act, Kebonang ruled that exposing possible criminal conduct within the agency is not a breach of national security but rather a matter of public interest.
He explained that the Act should not serve as a shield for criminality or unethical conduct by those in power.
“It is difficult to accept the proposition that Magosi and those in power can plunder the country... with no consequence or accountability,” he pointed out.
In conclusion, Kebonang dismissed the application to strike out the contested paragraphs and ordered that the Defendants pay costs on the ordinary scale, reaffirming the importance of transparency and accountability in public institutions even within national intelligence.
Meanwhile, Malikongwa who is currently on suspension on October 18, 2024 instituted proceedings against the DIS and the Botswana Police Service for unlawful arrest and detention.
In her suit, she alleges that the Director General, Magosi is a master criminal with an appetite for public funds.
According to her, Magosi is not only corrupt but has effectively turned the DIS into a criminal enterprise.
She also alleged that her arrest came about after she refused instructions from Magosi to by-pass all procurement processes for the procurement of Karakul Sheep.
Malikongwa claimed that Magosi had over the phone instructed her to ensure that certain consignment of Karakul Sheep from Uzbekistan were paid for and that other DIS Officials should not know of the unlawful transaction.
The sheep being paid for, were being purchased for former president Masisi, so she alleges.
“When I alerted Magosi that the transaction was unlawful and that the DIS and government funds could not be used to further what was essentially a corrupt transaction by both Magosi and President Masisi, I was immediately arrested and falsely accused of leaking confidential information. As a result of the accusations, I was suspended from work,” reads her court record.
Subsequently, the State felt unhappy with her allegations and sought for them to be expunged from the record.
Part of the relevant portions of her declaration that the State wanted removed read as follows:
“The arrest and detention of the Plaintiff was intended to frustrate and to punish her for refusing to perform a clearly corrupt transaction ordered by Magosi whereof he had verbally ordered (over the phone at the time he was in the presence of the potential service providers) her to ensure the purchase, with state resources, of farm animals, namely Karakul sheep, from among other countries, Uzbekistan.”
It further reads as, “The Plaintiff was instructed to bypass all government procurement procedures and reporting lines. The supplier, in the corrupt and unlawful transaction, was an Afghanistan national with existing contractual ties to the 2nd Defendant. The DIS’s Director General specifically ordered the Plaintiff that no one should know about the procurement and that the Attorney General, the Permanent Secretary (State President), as well as her immediate superior, Director Legal - Pulane Kgoadi, were to be kept in the dark about the transaction. The sheep were to arrive at a location to be disclosed by Magosi.”
In the State’s application it also wanted the allegation made by Malikongwa that Magosi disregarded the fact that her role was not to procure but to draft contracts and ensure compliance removed.
More also that she refused to perform the order leading to frustration on the part of Magosi and severe tongue lashing(s) by him and that he refused to give any written mandate for the instruction and further refused to follow both internal procurement procedures, national and international laws.
Further, the State wanted this part removed from the allegations, “DIS Director General stated that the unlawful and unprocedural procurement of the Karakul sheep had been ordered by the President, Mokgweetsi Eric Keabetswe Masisi, and that the procurement had not been executed due to financial constraints.
Magosi instructed that only the Directorate's Chief of Staff should know about the transaction. The Plaintiff was provided by the Director General with, and in fact met with external agents appointed by the Director General to facilitate the procurement.”