Air Botswana on auto pilot

Goitsemodimo Kaelo | Wednesday June 1, 2016 15:22

 

The permanent secretary in the ministry, Omponye Kereteletswe told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) yesterday that the responsibility of recruiting the general manager lies with the Air Botswana board of directors.

He said the recruitment process has not started yet as the board had just recently resumed work. Responding to a question posed by committee member and Member of Parliament for Tati East Samson Moyo Guma, who wanted to know when the GM would be employed, Kereteletswe said it is too early to tell as the board charged with recruiting the candidate has just resumed work.

“We have not advertised yet. The problem is that the board that is assigned to recruit the candidate has just recently resumed work. So I am not sure about the dates when the recruitment will commence,” said Kereteletswe.

At the time when the CEO and the board were dismissed, it was reported that they were fired for non-performance.

Meanwhile, Kereteletswe said he has no details as to how Air Botswana procured airlines in the past. He however said that it is proper for Air Botswana to follow the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) Act when procuring airlines.

“It is proper to start off with an expression of interest, then follow the right procedures if you don’t know the market. It is important to follow the procedure and the process has to be transparent. I hope there will be a tender next time when Air Botswana re-fleets.”

Guma had raised concern about Air Botswana’s procurement of aircrafts. He said there has never been a tender from Air Botswana for the procurement of aircrafts. Guma challenged the transparency to procure aircrafts saying they are only seen flying without any knowledge as to how they were bought. He said this is totally against the PPADB Act, which he said is mandatory to be followed.