We are investigating Magosi -DCEC
Pini Bothoko | Monday August 10, 2026 06:00
The anti-corruption agency revealed that two cases against the head of intelligence body have already been completed and ready for the next stage of the legal process. Appearing before the PAC, DCEC Director General Botlhale Makgekgenene assured legislators that the country's anti-corruption agency was executing its constitutional mandate independently, without fear or favour, insisting that no individual is beyond the reach of the law. Responding to questions on whether they were investigating Brigadier Magosi, Makgekgenene confirmed that the agency has several active cases involving the DIS chief. 'We have several cases involving him.
Two of those investigations have been completed and are ready for the next stage of the legal process,' she told the committee, without divulging further details because of the sensitivity of the matters. Makgekgenene stressed that the DCEC investigates anyone who should be probed regardless of their position, political affiliation or influence. 'There is no one who is above the law. Whether they served under the former Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) administration or are part of the current Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government. We investigate where there is evidence of wrongdoing,' she said. Makgekgenene also confirmed they have concluded investigations into allegations that the DIS interfered with DCEC operations. This comes after reports that Magosi’s intelligence agency stormed and unlawfully sealed DCEC’s offices in 2022. She stated that a court judgment had already confirmed that the DIS unlawfully interfered with the work of the anti-corruption agency by sealing the office of the Director General, even though no action has been taken thus far.
'When I joined the DCEC last year, there was a lot of turmoil because of the interference. As we speak, we are no longer experiencing that interference because I engaged the DIS Director General. They now refer cases to us as they are supposed to do, and everybody is keeping to their lane,' she said. In 2022, former DCEC Director General Tymon Katlholo was suspended for daring to investigate Magosi. Katlholo later took the DIS to court in protest over the raid, which occurred in early 2022. The conflict between Katlholo and Magosi heightened with the unlawful raid and sealing of Katlholo's office by the intelligence agency during high-profile corruption investigations. DIS sealed Katlholo's office without lawful authority, and the raid occurred while the DCEC looked into high-level figures, including Magosi. Court of Appeal (CoA) later in 2024 ruled that DIS was out of line for taking over the offices of the corruption-busting agency and barricading them.
The court stated then that it was clear that the intelligence agency, without lawful authority, sealed the DCEC offices and those of the then Director General. The Attorney General, representing the DIS, had appeared before the CoA to appeal a High Court judgment that ruled in favour of Katlholo. The court had previously granted Katlholo, on behalf of DCEC, an interdict against DIS, which had raided and sealed his office, allegedly in pursuit of dockets related to some officials of the spy outfit. At that time, the DCEC was reportedly investigating Magosi, leading to the raid while Katlholo was on official duty outside the country. In the judgment, Justice Isaac Lesetedi said from the facts it was clear that the DIS then took control of those premises and designated them a crime scene with the intent to access at least one of the files and documents unlawfully. 'These purposes were legally entirely unsanctioned.
The DIS had no legal entitlement to conduct itself in this way, pursuant to an investigation on which it was not empowered,' he said. Justice Lesetedi explained that DIS has no right to interfere with the business of DCEC legally because they are two separate government entities, each independently guided by its own Act. He said DIS's conduct was unlawful as it is empowered and has no supervisory powers over other entities of government, be it law enforcement or any other. 'The DIS was acting as a law unto itself in breach of the very foundational tenets on which this republic was established, respect for the rule of law. It undermined the laws passed by the people's representatives, Parliament,' Lesetedi said. 'To try to clothe its acts with a veneer of legality, the DIS sought to rely on the cover that it was conducting investigations concerning the national security of Botswana pursuant to its mandate in terms of the Intelligence and Security Services Act.'
The judge further stated that the High Court had believed that, having gained access to the files in the sealed offices, the DIS officers wouldn't have closed their eyes to investigating files concerning their own was just far-fetched. 'That is so far-fetched as to be unworthy of credence in motion proceedings. And should the High Court have accepted that the DIS would have sealed Katlholo's offices in his absence solely to secure a file in a matter in which they had already received cooperation (however grudgingly) from the respondent's office? That too requires an inordinate stretch of the imagination and credulity,' he explained. Lesetedi stated that based on common cause facts, as well as where no genuine dispute of fact existed, the High Court was competently right to grant the remedies Katlholo had sought.