Tension, confusion grip DIS over Air Botswana probe
Mpho Mokwape | Wednesday November 12, 2025 06:00
In separate but strikingly similar statements addressed to Tebogo Bagopi, an investigator appointed by the Permanent Secretary to the President (PSP), Sebuweng Mukani and Mpho Molokwane say they have been left “in the dark” about why they were targeted in what appears to be an internal fallout following the sensitive probe into the national airline. Mukani, a long-serving officer who joined the agency in 2008, said her troubles began in March 2024 when she was told by her senior, Paul Setlhabi, to collect a laptop package from colleagues Nozipho Modisane and Molokwane for the Director of Legal, Pulane Kgoadi.
“I switched off the surveillance cameras as per instructions from the Director-General (DG). We were always told not to work under cameras. I delivered the laptop bag to Kgoadi’s home, thinking nothing of it,' she said. She explained that days later, everything changed, as on March 21, around 11 at night, police and DIS officers arrived at her home and said that they were investigating a leak and seized her phone, took her to Sebele for questioning, and later detained her at Urban Police Station. The officer said she was confused because she had done nothing wrong, stating that she was released the following evening, but the ordeal was far from over. “A few days later, I was told not to report for duty. Then I was suspended. To this day, no one has told me what I did (wrong),' she said. For Molokwane, an Assistant Intelligence Officer who joined in 2019, said he, too, was caught in the same web.
He had been part of the team preparing a PowerPoint presentation on the Air Botswana case. According to him, tensions inside the DIS escalated when senior officials, including Basupi and Selwe, suddenly took over the investigation.
“They said only police officers would continue with the case. All materials were moved to the vault, and on March 17, I helped identify and pack Kgoadi’s laptop to be sent through Mukani. A few days later, I was summoned to Sebele under the pretext of helping with work, but was instead questioned about a leak. I was interrogated, my phone was seized, and I was detained at Tlokweng Police Station for two nights,” he said.
Molokwane said they later searched his home and took his work equipment and training gadgets, and he still doesn’t know what information they think was leaked. According to him, by the end of March 2024, both officers were told to stay home, and on April 24, 2024, they received formal suspension letters and were ordered to surrender their work IDs.
He said in July, they were again summoned this time to Avani Hotel, where they met Kweneng District Commissioner Tebogo Bagopi, who told them she was appointed by the PSP to investigate the Air Botswana probe itself. He stated that he was surprised as the District Commissioner is not a member of the DIS, and he had no clearance to discuss classified matters with her. 'I decided to refer the issue to the PSP instead,' he said. Despite the confusion, both Mukani and Molokwane described Bagopi as professional and courteous during their interviews, and that she was respectful. Molokwane said, but even then, no one explained why he was arrested or suspended, and both officers insist they have never leaked any information or engaged in misconduct. They say they have never been part of any conspiracy and still do not understand what it is all about.
Meanwhile, according to the officers, in their testimonies said what began as a routine investigation into Air Botswana has spiralled into a wave of confusion, suspicion, and disciplinary action against those who have simply followed orders. The intelligence officers currently have a pending lawsuit of P4.4 million against the DIS and the Botswana Police Service. The agents have stated in their respective lawsuits that there exist grounds for liability because at all material times the arresting and detaining officers, being members of DIS, and members of the police service, were in their conduct acting during the course of and within the scope of their employment. In conclusion, the agents said they have individually suffered harm and, as a result, the government is liable and they are entitled to compensation.