No Babereki AGM again
Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Friday May 21, 2021 16:51
After several postponements in the past due to legal battles between the company’s Board members and the shareholders at BOPEU, the AGM was set to take place on April 24, 2021 in Palapye on the direction of the Court of Appeal (CoA).
However, a fresh legal battle ensued after the two rival factions of the union submitted parallel lists for the AGM, which subsequently forced the court to postpone the meeting indefinitely to decide on the legitimacy of the lists to attend the AGM. The meeting was expected to discuss, amongst others, the appointment of and/or removal of directors.
On Monday, Lobatse High Court Judge postponed the matter in which it was supposed to hear a joinder application brought by Topias Marenga. The parties agreed on a postponement as they were not ready to proceed with the case.
The parties also consented to an order to put the proceedings before Justice Jennifer Dube on hold whilst awaiting judgement on the expedited appeal matter which is about the legitimacy of the BOPEU Palapye Special Congress of 2019 that resolved to among others, expel Masego Mogwera from the union.
The postponement further put the convening of the AGM in doubt for this year.
Stakeholders have in the past accused each other of frustrating efforts to hold the AGM. However, after the CoA judgement which ordered the meeting to be held, both parties stated that they were eager to have the meeting convened in earnest.
The matter started a year ago when a resolution purporting to be the outcome of a shareholders’ AGM was filed by Kaboyaone Sedimo for BOPEU with the Registrar of Companies, key amongst others removing Mogwera and Thabologo Galekhutle from the directorship of the company without their knowledge.
The Court would later rule that that the resolution to remove Mogwera was in fact not a shareholders’ matter, but was signed only by three people, behind the back of Babereki Investments directors, and other BOPEU structures, contrary to the dictates of the company’s Act and Babereki Investments’ own constitution.
Had the Court of Appeal (CoA) found that Monakwe’s faction’s move to topple Mogwera from the company was acceptable in law, Monakwe would have risen to the chairmanship of Babereki Investments, as the chief authority in its financial affairs. This is the most lucrative arm of BOPEU as the chairmanship of Babereki investments is held by a BOPEU president. Mogwera rose to the position when she became the BOPEU president, taking the baton from Andrew Motsamai, and later after being voted BOPEU president at the Kasane congress, three years ago.