Moti-Boko’s school, clinic race to launch in exclusive unveiling
Spira Tlhankane | Monday August 31, 2026 06:00
The Duma Boko School & Clinic in Block 7 will officially be unveiled on September 5 during a tightly controlled launch event, according to an invitation and information published by African Hero, the infrastructure initiative behind the project. African Hero belongs to Boko’s friend, South African businessman Zunaid Moti, who financed the Umbrella for Democratic Change’s (UDC) 2019 General Election bid. The school and clinic development marks a dramatic turnaround for a project that was previously flagged by the Ministry of Finance as financially costly, prompting the government to reject the initial proposal and insist that it preferred open competitive bidding. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last year, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Tshokologo Kganetsano confirmed that indeed they received a proposal from an investor to build clinics and schools.
He disclosed then that the investor was proposing to put funds into the project and rent out the clinics and hospitals to government after completion. Kganetsano said they made it clear from the beginning that the financial implications in the deal were huge, and that is why they had to send it back. Kganetsano told the PAC then that the Finance ministry made it clear that government was not at a stage where it could borrow money to fund the project. Yet barely months later, the pilot has emerged as the first physical “proof point” of African Hero’s continental infrastructure vision and has been publicly branded around the Head of State. According to the African Hero website, President Boko is the Founding Chairman of the initiative and the Botswana project represents the organisation’s first on-the-ground demonstration of an African-led model aimed at rapidly delivering schools and healthcare facilities. “The Duma Boko School and Clinic development in Block 7, Gaborone, stands as the first physical proof point of that vision, a real site, with real construction progress, designed to serve real children, families and communities,” African Hero states. The invitation describes the September 5 gathering as the official unveiling and launch, with attendance apparently restricted to guests, making it one of the first major public events surrounding the project. African Hero says the integrated development combines a modern 4IR-enabled primary school with a primary healthcare clinic within one community campus.
The school is expected to accommodate approximately 380 learners, featuring seven standard classrooms, four reception classrooms, a covered play area, special needs classroom, library, resource centre and computer laboratory. The clinic, meanwhile, is projected to handle up to 288 patient consultations daily, subject to staffing and operational resources. The speed with which the project has advanced is likely to reignite debate around Boko’s long-standing campaign against conventional procurement procedures, which he has repeatedly argued delay service delivery for years. Last year, Mmegi reported that African Hero, an initiative executed through Zotex Holdings, part of South Africa’s Moti Group owned by businessman Moti, had proposed a 17-year lease-to-own arrangement under which government would acquire prefabricated schools and clinics constructed from renovated shipping containers. The proposal estimated a single clinic at P9.1 million and a school at P36.4 million, while promising construction within one to two months. Now it seems the project was eventually scaled down as the Finance Ministry had suggested. “We told them that they should go and scale down and see to it that whatever they settle for will ultimately be accommodated within their budget,” Kganetsano told PAC last. Kganetsano disclosed that Treasury had pushed back against the proposal because of its heavy financial implications.
The ministry’s position stood in sharp contrast to Boko’s public criticism of open tendering, which he has described as slow, burdensome and vulnerable to endless litigation. Boko has repeatedly defended the use of direct appointments, arguing that conventional procurement can consume nearly three years before a hospital or school is delivered. “Some of the decisions we are going to take are going to shock some because, in some instances, we are not going to use normal tendering,” Boko said during a Kgotla meeting last year, insisting he was prepared to defend such decisions in court if necessary. Now, as construction visibly progresses and the project prepares for its official launch, African Hero is presenting the Block 7 development not merely as a Botswana project, but as a continental showcase.
The organisation says the school and clinic are intended to demonstrate how education and healthcare infrastructure can be delivered faster through African-led innovation, with Botswana serving as the testing ground for future expansion across the continent. The September 5 launch places the President’s name at the centre of African Hero’s first flagship development as guests gather for its exclusive unveiling.