Magosi, Mathambo 'turf wars intensify'
Ryder Gabathuse | Friday December 20, 2019 13:55
A well-placed government source has said that recently, “the director generals of the two institutions, Brigadier Joseph Mathambo of the DCEC and Brigadier (retired) Peter Magosi of the DIS have been deeply immersed in the feud”.
At some stage, the two respected former military colleagues were reportedly not on talking terms.
The allegations were made to Mmegi in a telephone call recently and were repeated in an email conversation.
The matter has reportedly reached President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s office although he is yet to arbitrate in the feud that has been reportedly affecting the operations of the two institutions.
Matters allegedly came to a head when the DIS head Magosi, without following procedure allegedly snatched a file case pertaining to the matter of a now suspended DIS agent, Welheminah Maswabi commonly known as ‘Butterfly’ and the DCEC investigator, Jako Hubona without proper authority. Maswabi amongst others is facing charges of financing terrorism.
This reportedly riled the DCEC top management as they were still investigating the Maswabi case, which was taken from them without due process and they feared their good work, could go to waste.
In his own words, DCEC director general, Mathambo although he was not willing to comment, declared philosophically: “I and the DCEC have not been found wanting on any issue because we have not participated in any mess, save for one of my investigators who is presently assisting the DIS and the Directorate of Public prosecutions (DPP) in the Maswabi case”.
He could not elaborate his answer in a WhatsApp response this week from Dubai where he is on official duty.
He confirmed that the Maswabi case has not been with the DCEC but with the DIS and the DPP. He was however, emphatic: “I can confirm that me and the DIS DG are equal on positions with different mandates.”
The DIS communications officer, Edward Robert denied existence of bad blood between the DCEC and the DIS in an emailed response this week. He is not aware of soured relations indicating that as far as he was concerned, the two institutions were collaborating very well.
Robert further denied a possibility of the DIS DG usurping the responsibility of investigating the Maswabi matter insisting: “There is no confusion and therefore, there is no way the DIS could have snatched the case and its investigator from the DCEC. Their roles are complementary and distinct.”
“The Welheminah Maswabi case as you call it, is handled by the DCEC, the DIS supported the corruption busting agency in this case the same way the Directorate (DIS) supported them in other investigations bearing similar sophistication levels and straddling boundaries,” Robert explained.
However, his explanation differed with Mathambo’s whose view is that the case is with the DCEC together with the investigator. Mathambo’s explanation is that whilst the matter was supposed to be investigated by the DCEC, the Maswabi case is in the custody of the DIS and the DPP.
“Also you will remember that the accused person is a DIS employee, making it necessary for the DCEC to be in regular contact with the DIS. This must not suggest that we have any unwarranted interest in the case,” Robert added.
Our source has intimated that one of the things that reportedly soured the relations between the DCEC and the DIS further was the recent alleged assignment of a female journalist (name withheld) previously employed by a local weekend publication to spy on the DCEC activities.
The journalist allegedly recorded the interview with the DCEC DG on his (Mathambo’s) differences with the DIS DG Magosi pretending that she was working for the publication when in actual fact the recording was destined to the DIS DG. Robert’s response to this allegation was simply, “I am not aware of such reports. It’s simply news to me.”
A highly placed source at the Office of the President (OP) has informed Mmegi that President Masisi recently summoned Mathambo to OP in an endeavour to appreciate what’s going on between the two DGs, “but the meeting could not bear fruit since Magosi was not present at the meeting to state his side of the story. Definitely, the President will meet the duo in due course in light of the latest developments.”
As far as the DIS communications officer knows, the heads of both DIS and DCEC work together very well.
“Actually, the legal framework guiding the operations of the organisations they head makes the situation such that one will struggle without the other. They both know their organisations co -exist to deliver corruption - free Botswana as pledged by President Masisi.”
In his view, it was Brigadier Magosi who upon assuming office of the director general at DIS made collaboration with other law enforcement agencies part of his roadmap.
When unveiling the roadmap during media interviews, he committed to augmenting efforts to fight stock theft given the fact that it had now assumed a level of sophistication that needed the support of his organisation and that it was reaching a level that was beginning to pose threat to the national economy. There were also people from other countries who were beginning to be involved.
“The other issue was media/stakeholder engagement which saw the director general interacting with the media and addressing civic leaders on his plans for the Directorate. Also in the roadmap was a commitment to anti-corruption efforts given the fact that corruption was becoming more organised and sophisticated as well as heightening collaboration with other like-mandated organisations,” Robert further explained.
Robert is adamant that there is no confusion on what DCEC vis-à-vis DIS role is as they both derive their mandates and obligations from the separate Acts guiding their operations.
“DIS has been established to safeguard national security. Anything that has the potential to threaten national security will warrant DIS attention. Corruption, if left unattended has the potential to destabilise the nation. Also, DIS has been mandated by the Act to fight organised crime,” he said.
His take is that when a corruption crime assumes an organised approach, “that is, involving multiple players, even stretching beyond the boundaries of the country as it is believed to be the case in the investigations you have alluded to, DIS deploys.”
The DIS role will however, be limited to providing intelligence to assist DCEC in their investigations. Then the DCEC will, working together with other stakeholders like DPP determine how to see the matter to its logical conclusion.
“And this is working perfectly well for DIS and DCEC. And that is why there is no fighting for turf by the two sister organisations,” he concluded.