A deep dive into history’s Cabinet scandal resignations
Spira Tlhankane | Friday August 21, 2026 11:36
Salakae is the latest political casualty of a corruption controversy, and he now joins former Ministers who stepped aside as allegations involving public office closed in on them.
Due to that, the Member of Parliament of the ruling Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) has revived an old and uncomfortable chapter in Botswana’s political history with his cabinet departure. He has reportedly been served with court documents by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and is set to appear in court on August 28. The list of names in the club Salakae is joining includes the late Ramadeluka Seretse, the late Peter Mmusi, Daniel Kwelagobe, and Michael Tshipinare. One thing to note is that the allegations are not convictions; the circumstances differ, but the political pattern is striking.
Seretse
The most obvious recent parallel is former Defence, Justice and Security Minister Ramadeluka “Ndelu” Seretse. In 2010, Seretse resigned from Cabinet as allegations surrounding a company in which he had been involved intensified. He was subsequently charged with corruption over a contract involving the Botswana Police Service, which fell under his ministry. The case put an extraordinary spotlight on the conflict-of-interest question with a sitting minister responsible for the police facing allegations concerning a company linked to him and a police tender. His resignation, however, did not end his political career, but in a striking turn, Seretse returned to Cabinet the following year after the corruption case had already rocked his tenure.
Mmusi-Kwelagobe storm
But looking further back in the annals of history, the political earthquake was even bigger in 1991 when then Vice President Peter Mmusi recommended a commission of inquiry into land boards. The resulting Kgabo Commission plunged the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) into one of the biggest political crises of the early independence era.
The Kgabo Report (1991) was the first of several to expose wrongdoings by government officials in land issues in Kweneng. The Kgabo Land Commission was appointed by the late former President Sir Ketumile Masire to investigate allegations of corruption in land allocation in Gaborone and the surrounding areas, amongst others. The Commission focused on the land problems in Mogoditshane and other peri-urban villages. It later released a bombshell when it heavily implicated then Vice President Mmusi and senior minister Daniel Kwelagobe. The Commission was resolute that Kwelagobe had illegally obtained some land at Nkoyaphiri while Mmusi was caught up for allegedly aiding Kwelagobe. The political worlds of both Mmusi and Kwelagobe collapsed around them, and the duo was forced to resign their Cabinet positions.
Neither man was found to have stolen land, but politically, the damage was done. On March 7, 1992, Kwelagobe resigned from Cabinet and Mmusi followed. The late former president Festus Mogae was installed as vice president two days later in the events which later led to ascendancy to the highest office in the land. The Kgabo Commission had effectively transformed the political landscape, with Mmusi and Kwelagobe later going to court and clearing their names, but their Cabinet careers having already been dramatically altered.
Tshipinare and
the BHC scandal
The Kgabo affair was soon followed by another scandal that shook the establishment: the Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) saga. The Christie Commission, which investigated the BHC, exposed allegations of gross mismanagement, dishonesty and irregularities involving senior officials and politicians. The scandal was part of a period in which commissions of inquiry were uncovering high-level corruption and impropriety.
The Christie Commission was a Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed by Masire in 1992, chaired by South African legal expert Richard Christie. It was established to investigate gross mismanagement, illegal tendering, and systemic financial corruption within the BHC. The investigation was catalysed by the sudden, highly suspicious death of BHC General Manager Joe Letsholo in a car accident.
One of the politicians caught in the storm was then Assistant Minister of Local Government, Lands and Housing Michael Tshipinare. Tshipinare was linked to Spectra Botswana and an unsecured P500, 000 loan. He faced corruption proceedings arising from the BHC affair and was reportedly convicted at one stage but later acquitted on appeal after the High Court found in his favour.
Tshipinare successfully revived his political career and served as the Ngwaketse West MP up until 2004. He was brought back into the executive Cabinet under Mogae, serving as the Minister of Local Government.
But with the recent case of Salake, history is important in assessing his resignation and that it does not mean the Ghanzi MP has been found guilty of corruption. Being investigated, served with court papers or facing allegations is not the same thing as being convicted, and all these former ministers’ own history demonstrates why that distinction matters. Mmusi and Kwelagobe eventually challenged the findings against them in court; Seretse’s corruption case also went through the courts, while Tshipinare’s legal battle ultimately ended in his favour on appeal.
All this history shows that when allegations begin to engulf a minister, they usually step aside and fight from outside Cabinet, and that’s what Salakae has chosen. “My sole focus is to fully cooperate with and allow the legal process to run its course,” Salakae told Parliament this week. He has joined a political roll call that stretches back more than three decades.