I was not involved - Mathambo
Chakalisa Dube | Thursday April 18, 2019 13:34
When Mathambo was approached for comment, he said he only heard that the case was closed some time back but he never handled the matter.
“But, I can tell you one time when I was on vacation from the War College in China, I was summoned to the DCEC about the matter. Unfortunately, I had no idea. It was also around the period my wife filed for divorce from our marriage.”
Masego Mathambo, the ex-wife, has a docket that was submitted to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on issues of corruption, Mmegi learnt from reliable sources.
Masego was reportedly at the centre of conflict of interest a few years ago as the anti-graft agency investigated her for alleged corruption. It is alleged that Mathambo himself was implicated as having benefitted from the alleged corruption.
Mathambo was deployed late last year from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) to become deputy DG (operations). Recently, he took over as the DG, replacing Bruno Paledi who has since been re-deployed to the parent Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security.
Mathambo’s former wife was an executive (general manager-customer care) at Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) responsible for procurement before she was fired in 2015. Masego met her fate reportedly after the DCEC recommended that she be fired for conflict of interest.
At the time of her dismissal, the DPP was reportedly still studying her docket for possible prosecution. It is alleged that a leading Chinese Information and Communications Technology company offered a fully paid up trip and holiday for Mathambo family to China.
The Mathambos allegedly received gifts from the international company (name withheld) and the family was flown to China for a holiday that was fully paid by the company. At the time of the trip, the company was allegedly bidding for a tender at the telecommunications parastatal.
BTC corporate communications and public relations manager, Golekanye Molapisi said in response to Mmegi enquiries: “We cannot respond nor comment to the allegations raised herein as we were not privy nor part of the investigations that were conducted by the DCEC and as such we believe the DCEC will be better placed to respond to your enquiry.”
Questioned as to whether Masego exited BTC on allegations of corruption or not, Molapisi was insistent, “In any event, we are bound by the law not to disclose any information relating to our employees (current and former) to any third party”.
The BTC spokesperson added: “That notwithstanding, BTC has in place a code of ethics, which has as its core, the commitment to conducting business in an open and accountable way. BTC as a responsible corporate citizen has zero-tolerance for bribery and corruption”.