Forensic audit in limbo ahead of SONA
Spira Tlhankane | Friday November 6, 2026 10:59
The Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is yet to receive crucial investigative reports more than six months after the forensic audit findings were presented to the President. Government has admitted that DCEC and other relevant agencies are still waiting for the detailed forensic reports containing evidence, names of individuals and companies, and information on possible criminal wrongdoing. The revelation raises uncomfortable questions about the pace of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) administration's promised crackdown on corruption.
This is particularly so, after forensic auditors identified 80 serious matters warranting further investigation, including suspected bribery, fraud, embezzlement, collusion and unlawful enrichment. With Boko preparing to return to Parliament on Monday, the latest disclosure has placed his administration's commitment to accountability under renewed scrutiny. His government is struggling to move from exposing suspected wrongdoing to investigating those potentially responsible. The forensic audit, conducted by international consultancy Alvarez & Marsal Middle East Limited (A&M), covered the period between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2024, examining government expenditure and transactions across 30 public institutions.
The exercise, which has been associated with an estimated P33 billion in potential financial losses, was commissioned as part of the new administration's efforts to uncover alleged corruption and financial misconduct over the previous decade. The audit was presented to Boko on April 30, 2026, a month after the March deadline he had announced in his November 2025 SONA. In last year’s SONA the President had assured the nation that the audit would not become another expensive government exercise whose findings were left to gather dust. 'I assure the nation that its findings will be acted upon,' Boko declared in his previous address. But as the President prepares to deliver another SONA, questions are mounting over when that assurance will translate into concrete investigations, criminal prosecutions and recovery of public funds.
The latest concerns emerged following a question by former president and Bangwato Kgosi, Ian Khama in Ntlo ya Dikgosi (NYD) last week. Khama asked that government disclose the current status of the forensic audit, whether the DCEC had received and reviewed the report, the reasons for any delay and what action was being taken on matters requiring further investigation. Responding of behalf of State President, Defence and Security ministry, Minister of International Relations, Dr Phenyo Butale confirmed that while the consolidated summary report had been published and distributed nationally, the underlying reports containing detailed evidence had not been handed over to the relevant authorities.
'The DCEC and other relevant government agencies (Public Sector Reforms Unit, for example), including the audited entities are yet to be given the detailed, underlying 30 entity-specific forensic audit reports - which contain entity-specific findings, detailed factual analysis, supporting evidence, and material relevant to potential investigative, recovery, disciplinary or proposed legal action,' he told the House of Chiefs. Crucially, the minister acknowledged that the reports contain information identifying individuals and companies potentially linked to the suspected wrongdoing. 'These reports include, inter alia, names of persons, companies and other entities for which there is various levels of attribution of accountability including possible suspects,' he said. Butale attributed the delay partly to difficulties securing an electronic system capable of safely transferring the sensitive forensic material from the auditors to a government-controlled platform.
'The delay in issuing these reports to the relevant authorities, either for further investigation and/or remedial action, is due, in part, to challenges experienced in procurement of a secure electronic platform for migration of the forensic audit materials from the A&M platforms to government owned and controlled secure electronic platform. 'I am pleased to report that this process is at an advanced stage of completion,' he added. The government's admission comes months after Attorney General, Dick Bayford, separately revealed that his office had not received the forensic audit report for legal assessment. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee nearly two months after Boko received the report, Bayford explained that the findings of forensic auditors could not automatically be converted into criminal court cases. 'Expert auditors do a forensic audit. But after doing the report, it does not mean the findings are actionable court cases. For these matters to become cases, there has to be a docket, evidence, affidavits, and proper investigations,' Bayford said.
According to Bayford, investigative agencies such as the DCEC and Botswana Police Service must first examine the allegations and compile the necessary case files before matters can be referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Depending on the evidence, the findings could result in criminal prosecutions, civil recovery proceedings or other appropriate action. 'It is a lot of work, but we have an agile DPP who will work hard to the satisfaction of the public,' Bayford said at the time. The Attorney General also acknowledged that he could not advise government on the possible establishment of a special investigative unit because he had not reviewed the audit findings. 'At this stage, I have not advised the government on whether it is necessary to establish such a unit because I have not seen the report and therefore cannot determine the extent of the work that may come before our offices,' he added.
The possibility of a dedicated investigative unit had been raised by PAC chairperson, Taolo Lucas, who had asked whether the magnitude of the forensic audit findings warranted a specialised mechanism to accelerate investigations and prosecutions. In response, Bayford said such an arrangement could be considered, although its establishment would require an appropriate legal framework. 'There could be a special unit, but that would happen if Parliament proposes the establishment of such a body to help speed up the prosecution of cases arising from the report findings,' he said. Now, several months later, government has confirmed that it is establishing a dedicated team of investigators to deal with the most serious matters uncovered by the auditors.
'With specific reference to further investigations, the forensic auditors have identified 80 'most serious matters' involving suspected cases of bribery, corruption, fraud, embezzlement, collusion, unlawful enrichment or other acts of serious misconduct, requiring follow-up investigation, asset tracing and assessment, recovery analysis and where appropriate, criminal, civil, disciplinary or other forms of enforcement action,' Butale said in his response to Khama. 'Government is establishing a dedicated team of investigators to handle these matters.' However, Butale did not specify when the team would become operational, how many investigators would be assigned, or when the 80 matters would be formally referred for investigation.
He also did not reveal how many of those matters had already progressed to criminal case files or asset recovery proceedings. The absence of such details leaves a significant gap between the administration's declared determination to confront corruption and the measurable outcomes of the forensic audit. Director of Public Prosecutions Kgosietsile Ngakaagae has previously indicated that his office stands ready to process matters arising from the investigation. 'For us, we are already doing the work. There are cases that we are already working on and others that we are looking at,' Ngakaagae told the PAC few months back. He disclosed that the DPP had adopted a policy requiring prosecutors to complete assessments of corruption-related files within three months of receiving them. 'Once the forensic report arrives and files reach our office, it takes us three months after receiving the file to complete the assessment.
We have decided to give corruption cases and matters of public interest priority,' he added. The forensic audit was also intended to inform reforms in procurement, governance, financial management and institutional oversight, potentially exposing systemic weaknesses that allowed questionable transactions to occur. Butale also told Ntlo ya Dikgosi that government was taking steps to strengthen the capacity of investigative agencies and reform implementation structures to translate the audit's findings into practical action. He stated that the measures would include enhancing institutional independence, technical capabilities, credibility and authority, alongside legislative, policy and operational reforms.
The minister also indicated that the Forensic Audit Implementation Steering Committee intends to update Ntlo ya Dikgosi on the audit report. Boko came to office promising a departure from the governance practices his administration has sought to scrutinise, with the forensic audit becoming one of the most visible instruments of that commitment. In his previous SONA, he portrayed the audit as part of a wider effort to restore public confidence in institutions and ensure accountability for the management of public resources. But the latest revelations expose the difficulty of translating an extensive forensic investigation into enforceable legal action. Now the passage of more than six months since the report reached the President has intensified the need for clarity on the next steps. As Boko prepares to deliver his third SONA, the question is no longer whether the government has uncovered suspected irregularities involving billions of pula.
The question now is when the institutions mandated to investigate those irregularities will receive the evidence necessary to act. With 80 serious matters awaiting investigative follow-through, Boko faces a crucial opportunity to explain how his administration intends to turn the forensic audit from a catalogue of suspected wrongdoing into a credible process of accountability.