Moti investment sparks state-capture fears
staff writer | Tuesday September 8, 2026 12:28
Following the launch of the flagship project in Gaborone Block 7 last weekend, main opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP) has sounded the alarm over what it describes as an emerging 'state capture' arrangement.
The party accused government of preparing to saddle the country with more than P20 billion in long-term obligations for an infrastructure project it says should cost about P3.6 billion.
At the centre of the controversy is African Hero, a project associated with Moti’s business interests.
The speedy project, bearing President Duma Boko’s name, is being showcased by the government as a new model for delivering schools and clinics.
Moti financed the UDC's 2019 election campaign and was openly acknowledged by coalition figures as having supported the orgabisation.
Now, under a UDC government led by Boko, the very politician who benefited from that political support, Moti's business entity is behind a flagship infrastructure project.
That coincidence is precisely what has raised the political temperature as the BCP, in its latest statement, says the country must urgently confront the possibility of state capture.
The Dumelang Saleshando-led party has characterised the proposed arrangement in the starkest possible terms, accusing government of “bonding Botswana for P20 billion for a P3.6 billion investment”.
The BCP alleges that taxpayers could ultimately pay almost P20 billion over the life of the arrangement for infrastructure estimated at a fraction of that amount.
“State capture” is defined as a form of corruption in which businesses and politicians work together to influence a country's decision-making in pursuit of private interests.
It is often referenced in the scandal surrounding former South African president Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. The South African experience became notorious because allegations went beyond ordinary corruption.
The concern was that private business interests could gain influence over the machinery of government itself, including state institutions, appointments and major government contracts. The BCP says the financial structure is where the controversy becomes explosive.
According to the party, a prefabricated school costs approximately P36 million, whilst the proposed arrangement could result in government effectively paying almost P200 million per school over 20 years.
The organisation calculates that as a 555% markup and alleges that the burden would ultimately fall on taxpayers.
The BCP is now demanding that the government publish the agreements, guarantees, side letters, land allocations, and payment schedules associated with African Hero.
The party argues that if the arrangement is clean, there should be no reason to hide it saying, “If the deal is clean, publish it. If they refuse, the country will know why.”
Another potentially explosive element is the project's history inside government. The BCP claims that the Ministry of Finance initially rejected Moti’s proposal as too costly.
The party points specifically to Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Tshokologo Alex Kganetsano, whom it says stated in 2025 that the deal was “too costly” and had been rejected.
But during the project launch of African Hero this weekend, Boko confronted the state-capture criticism head-on.
Boko rejected suggestions that his government could be captured by business interests and presented Botswana as a country whose institutions should attract serious investors.
“We have lived in an environment where business people, some elsewhere, and maybe even here, have captured politicians.
We in this government are building a generation of leaders that are “uncapturable. I myself am uncapturable,” Boko emphasised.
The President specifically named Moti amongst the business people welcomed to Botswana, alongside Naveen Jindal and Aliko Dangote.
“No ways. You see, and I've been uncapturable all my life. So, we have said that business people must come and invest here,” Boko highlighted.
He argued that Botswana's institutional credibility, safety, and predictability make it an attractive destination for capital.
“Capital wants where it is safe. And Botswana is arguably the safest. “So we are going to make Botswana the capital of capital in Africa,” he said
His position is therefore fundamentally different from that of the BCP.
Where the opposition party sees the potential for political capture, Boko sees an opportunity to attract capital, accelerate development, and use Botswana's institutional credibility to bring major investors into the country.
During the African Hero launch, Moti rejected suggestions that the government had financially committed itself to him.
“To the President, I can see where he comes from. I can't understand why Botswana's media doesn't celebrate this moment, and there's all this controversy.
“The President has not committed the government to any money here, and me personally; I've never received one pula from the Botswana government since I've arrived here,” he said.
Moti argued that African Hero was not a government-funded project but a private initiative designed to bring together donors, corporate sponsors, and philanthropists.
“It's not a government-funded project,” he added, accusing critics of misunderstanding the model and urged the public to look beyond corruption fears.
“So please, put that to bed. All the nuances, all the social media nonsense, let's put it to bed. Let's use this as an opportunity to celebrate a new initiative with no corruption, the African Hero principle,” Moti said.
But the BCP's argument is not limited to whether Moti has already received a direct government payment, but it is concerned about the proposed long-term relationship between the state and the project.
State capture, as the South African experience demonstrated, does not necessarily begin with an envelope of cash changing hands.
It goes from political financing, access, influence, preferential treatment, appointments, and contracts to eventually the blurring of the line between private interest and public decision-making.
The Gupta family scandal became a warning precisely because allegations centred on the ability of private interests to influence decisions inside the state.
Botswana's circumstances are not the same as South Africa's because there is currently no established finding that the Boko administration has been captured by Moti or that African Hero is the product of an illegal political bargain.
However, the historical connection between Moti and the UDC makes transparency particularly important.
In 2023 Boko himself explained why he had sought financial assistance from Moti, saying local businesses were reluctant to support the opposition and that fundraising required looking to friends.
Boko said Moti supported him because he was his friend and trusted him to do the right thing.
“Bro, you are my friend, and I support you. I am not supposed to fund any political party. I am giving my money, my resources to you. What you do wherever is your business,” Boko said then.
That statement now sits against a very different backdrop because the ‘friend’ who once provided political assistance is now associated with a major infrastructure initiative being developed under the government led by the politician he supported.
The BCP is now demanding an urgent parliamentary inquiry and wants the Public Accounts Committee to summon the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
During his appearance, the Permanent will be asked to explain how a proposal that had previously raised Treasury concerns was later resurrected. The BCP has announced that between September 14 and 18, 2026, it will engage civil society, labour and other groups to map a national response.
“This capture must be stopped before it is welded into the next 20 years of the fiscus, and before it cripples the next generation. Batswana did not vote to be billed for someone else’s political debt.”