Bang goes whimper as NPF case crumbles
Mpho Mokwape | Friday December 25, 2020 12:45
Little did the public know that the excitement and expectation of looking forward to see some of the biggest names fingered in the case being prosecuted in the historical matter was just a daydream far-fetched. The money laundering case when it started a well-known businessman, Bakang Seretse, Botho Leburu and Kenneth Kerekang were charged.
Seretse was at the time the managing director of Kgori Capital, an asset management company that was tasked with administering the NPF since winning the tender in January 2016.
When the scandal broke Bakang and the company were the first to be fingered in the embezzlement of millions together with Kerekang who was at the time the director at the department of energy but as time went on more big names were dropped in the scandal. With constant high profile names continued being dropped one by one expectations and excitement were felt across the country as many wanted to see what the prosecution could do with the big fishes in front of them. As the case kept unfolding and allegations kept flying around fingering a lot of people including the President, the former president though they were never charged excitement was all over and people couldn’t wait to see or hear who will be accused next, it was almost like a bug that had caught the nation. The scandal had created such a frenzy that it was on everyone’s lips and everyone had an opinion about the matter.
The whole country was buzzing with excitement and hope that finally the government in office was dealing with corruption. Well many did not anticipate that the case was just one of the many that have died a natural death with little to write home about. What many expected from 2017 when the case started to 2020 when it folded is totally not what many foresaw. Following almost three years of going back and forth in Court with the case and seemingly the prosecution losing grip on the case, it felt like many knew they were taken for a ride. The case had lost its momentum and many people seemed less interested anymore especially that the case itself was no longer as effective or exciting as it was before.
Just few weeks ago the case was concluded when all accused persons were freed by chief magistrate, Kamogelo Mmesi and before then the High Court had already made determination on some of the accused person’s applications. The Kebonang brothers, Zein and Sadique and Isaac Kgosi were already free men. The public had already given up on the matter as they had accused the prosecution of not doing enough work to see those accused of dipping their hands in the public coffers did not go free.
When Mmesi pinned the final nail to the coffin, the last response from the public was ‘we knew it, it was never going anywhere, we were just fooled’ and that is how many would never want to put their mouth in State matters. At the end the case ended not with a bang like many expected but with a whimper.