Monakwe Snubs Babereki Board Meeting
Staff Writer | Monday May 13, 2019 12:10
However, her rival and first deputy president Olefile Monakwe, who announced the controversial sacking of Mogwera and the entire Board from the company, was nowhere to be seen as all five Board members he (Monakwe) tried to expel in vain, attended the Board meeting without a hitch.
Babereki Investments is a business wing of Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU). One of the agenda items for the Babereki Investments Board meeting was the release of the audit report.
According to sources, the item was suggested by Monakwe despite the fact that he did not pitch up to see to it that the agenda item was satisfactorily discussed.
Those who attended the meeting told The Monitor that though Monakwe was absent, the chair for the first time distributed copies of the forensic audit to Board members to peruse through and make decision on the way forward.
Insiders revealed that after paging through the report, the Board concluded that the distribution of the report would jeopardise the ongoing criminal investigations against the culprits named in the document. Sources further said copies of the forensic audit were then retrieved from the Board members following which the acting Babereki Investments chief executive officer was asked to lock the copies in a safe place to ensure no leak.
Reacting to the latest development, Mogwera said her Board unanimously agreed that the forensic audit report should not be made public at this stage.
“Contrary to stuff being said that I am too reluctant to release the forensic audit because I am implicated, there is no truth in that; this report is not a secret to the Board or BOPEU NEC. Last year my National Executive Committee (NEC) was briefed about the findings. Recently Monakwe and myself accompanied the forensic expert to NBFIRA (Non-Bank Financial Institutions Authority) where, as our regulator, they were updated about the forensic audit findings,” said Mogwera.
In his view, Monakwe has previously been quoted as saying his nemesis was the one who sabotaged the NEC meeting. He also alleged that some NEC members were either transferred, or their flights were cancelled to sabotage scheduled NEC meeting.Monakwe could not be reached for comment after repeated attempts.