Air Botswana ups anti-graft campaign
Keikantse Lesemela | Friday March 13, 2015 16:32
BusinessWeek: Tell us about the Tip-off Anonymous service.
Moribame: Air Botswana’s Tip-off Anonymous service is an independently managed fraud hotline service that allows both internal (employees) and external stakeholders to report suspected unethical behaviour and/or wrong doing anonymously. The service is administered via a third party, Deloitte and utilises a variety of mediums to report such incidents including cell phone, landline, e-mail or even through the world wide web.
BusinessWeek: What led to the introduction of the service?
Moribame: The service is an opportunity for Air Botswana to conduct its business in a way that upholds the principles of good corporate governance. Its basic premise is to hold each and every member of staff at Air Botswana accountable for their actions, good or bad. Ultimately, the service will assist to plug leakages within our systems and processes and help the airline to perform efficiently.
BusinessWeek: How is the service going to benefit the organisation and the country?
Moribame: Botswana, just like most countries, aspire for a corruption free society. The country has been driving anti-corruption initiatives through its various Departments for many years now. Similarly, Air Botswana as a commercial entity, wants to operate in a manner that protects its business interests. It is common knowledge that by nature, businesses are generally prone to external forces that may seek to take advantage of its systems and processes. Such an initiative is a small measure that seeks to protect the integrity of internal processes and create a standard of good corporate governance.
BusinessWeek: How will the service aid the company’s financial performance?
Moribame: Air Botswana is working tirelessly to lessen the impact of negative loss making. As a responsible corporate entity that operates in a highly regulated environment, there are insights into what are some of the areas within our operations that need to be tightened. This is to say that for the airline to improve, we have to look at our operations holistically.
Reports that come through the tip-offs service are a welcome improvement that will shed light on what needs to be focused on.
BusinessWeek: Have there been any incidents of fraud experienced in the organisation?
Moribame: The premise behind the launch of the service is to set the airline on a path of excellence and good corporate governance as well as live up to the ideals of completely stamping out corruption. This takes away from the livelihood and wellness of any self-respecting business entity.
BusinessWeek: Is there going to be any training offered to relevant bodies?
Moribame: There was an extensive internal launch for all Air Botswana staff, where we taught them on the service. It was especially important to ally fears that the service would be a tool to victimise or spy on staff members.