NACB a council in crisis
SHARON MATHALA | Monday October 20, 2025 10:49
The industry had longed for the council to be established, that even Kast did a 1000km walk advocating for the Council, among other things, the creative sector’s needs. For many, the much-anticipated arts council represented a promise that musicians, actors, dancers, and painters would no longer stand on the periphery of national development. Yet five years later, that promise feels broken. The institution, once envisioned as the country’s tactical weapon in the plans to diversify the economy from diamonds, has instead become a dysfunctional disillusionment. The NACB’s mandate was straightforward: to act as the custodian of Botswana’s creative economy by providing grants, facilitating growth, and promoting fair governance in the arts. But insiders and artists now describe it as an institution crippled by boardroom disputes, political interference, and allegations of maladministration.
“The Council was supposed to be a bridge between artists and government. Instead, it has become a wall that keeps us out,” said one of the artists. In Parliament, Minister of Sport and Arts (MOSA) Jacob Kelebeng conceded that part of NACB’s struggle stems from the absence of formal regulations to guide its operations. Without these, the Council has operated in a grey zone, neither fully autonomous nor directly accountable to the Ministry. The result has been years of confusion, overlapping authority, and a growing disconnect between the Council and the people it was meant to represent. For Botswana’s artists, patience has now worn thin. The NACB, they say, has not lived up to its promise of fostering an environment where creativity can flourish sustainably. Instead, it has become synonymous with bureaucracy and exclusion. Since 2020, there have been calls, both whispered and public, for the dissolution of the current board, with many arguing that the Council should be rebuilt from the ground up. “The Council doesn’t work for us, it has turned into an elite club, not a platform for artists,” said a veteran musician.
Some creatives argue that the institution was flawed from inception, built on political goodwill rather than creative vision, and with leadership that neither understands nor values the sector’s dynamics. While frustration dominates conversations about the NACB, there is still a faint call for reform rather than abolition. Artists want oversight, not erasure. They want the council to be what it was meant to be, which is a guardian of artistic integrity, not a gatekeeper of funds. Over the past few years, the NACB has been plagued by controversies from the firing of its founding CEO, Shombie Ellis, under what many described as questionable circumstances, to legal battles and an eventual settlement that left a dent on the Council’s credibility before it had even begun to function effectively. Since then, reports of political interference have persisted. There have been allegations that certain politicians have used NACB-linked activities and funds to advance their campaign interests, while standard procurement procedures were ignored. The situation has worsened; artists accuse the council of ignoring communication, breaching procedure, and showing disregard for due process. This week a petition was to be delivered to the Leader of the opposition, Dumelang Saleshando, by a concerned group of artists. Associations have come to the fore and berated the developments at NACB.
Botswana Entertainment Promoters Association (BEPA) chairperson Goaba Mojakgomo said NACB finds itself in this disastrous situation due to mismanagement. “We believe the current situation reflects shortcomings in the management of the NACB. The council’s leadership has demonstrated a lack of creativity, agility, and ambition in seeking alternative and innovative avenues to sustain the creative sector. A national arts body should embody dynamism and resilience. We hope this is a wake-up call to NACB to look beyond government assistance,” Mojakgomo said.
This narrative by BEPA was also supported by the Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU), which called NACB to put their house in order, as it is clear to them that they do not have the resources to steer the ship. “The Arts Council is under-resourced. At BOMU we have always made it clear that projects and programs should have a deliberate intention, target, and purpose. Because at BOMU we primarily focus on development, we find ourselves direct financial casualties whenever the government approaches a cost-cutting mode,” BOMU secretary general Rasina Rasina said. In a strongly worded complaint, artists described the sequence of events as “a bizarre financial irregularity” and a betrayal of public trust. They also point to irregular partnerships between the NACB and certain arts associations, many of which are said to be unregistered or dormant. Under the Societies Act (2022), such entities are prohibited from entering into contractual relationships with public institutions.
Nevertheless, the NACB publicly announced that it had engaged several of these associations to co-administer the National Arts Festival, a decision artists claim directly contravened both the Societies Act and the NACB’s founding legislation. Beyond governance issues, artists say the economic inequity in how NACB disburses funds reveals a deeper rot. While performing groups reportedly earned P7,000 prize money, coordinators connected to the associations received P7,000–P8,000 per event, sometimes overseeing 20 events or more. In effect, one individual it is alleged could earn up to P160,000, while entire creative teams shared the equivalent of a single coordinator’s fee. “Those who make the art are paid the least, whilst those who manage the chaos profit from it,” said another veteran. The Council has also come under fire for delayed payments, with some artists waiting months to receive modest earnings.
Following growing unrest, NACB allegedly rushed to send out E-Wallet payments on weekends, a move many interpreted as administrative panic rather than corrective action. The current petition to the LOO reflects a desperate attempts to reclaim the creative industry. There are calls for a parliamentary inquiry into NACB’s finances, the suspension of the CEO, timely payments to artists, and a review of the NACB Act to ensure parliamentary oversight. But even beyond the legal remedies, what’s being asked for is respect for artistry, for transparency, and for the principle that cultural development is national development. The NACB’s turmoil mirrors bigger challenges within Botswana’s creative economy, which is an underfunded, undervalued sector still fighting for institutional recognition. The Council was supposed to change that, to transform the arts from just a hobby to a business, without accountability and visionary leadership; that transformation remains out of reach.