BTO board cleanses Khama of �mess�

Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday December 12, 2017 17:16

 

The Minister of Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism, Tshekedi Khama rubbed it in when he told the Parliamentary Committee on Statutory Bodies and State Enterprises yesterday, that the Board has given the deal a go-ahead.

Amongst many inappropriate decisions showing micromanagement of BTO by Khama was an instruction from the minister that ASUA, a UK-based company, be appointed to administer the levy.

The minister came under fire from the committee for making decisions that were to be taken by the board while he took his time (eight months) to appoint such board.

“After appearing here last year we went and tried by all means to correct the wrongs we were accused of.  I spoke to the board to either endorse the direct appointment of the company or take whichever decision.  They have since upheld the decision and we will continue to engage other stakeholders before taking the Bill back to Parliament,” Khama said.

Khama had written a letter to then BTO CEO Thabo Dithebe instructing that a contract be signed with the UK-based insurance broker without following normal procurement procedures.

 Khama has since withdrawn the Bill introducing the levy stating that they wanted to do things in the best possible way after engaging stakeholders.

Permanent Secretary at the tourism ministry, Jimmy Opelo went back on his word that the contract with ASUA had been terminated and admitted that he knew kiosks were already in place at the borders.

Opelo further told the committee that it would not be easy for them to terminate the contract so that proper tendering would occur as committee members insisted. 

“The CEO spoke to the company about the possibility of us pulling out of the contract. It came to our attention that it would not be easy as there are legal implications. We are currently discussing on how to proceed,” he said.

Before the minister appeared, BTO financial manager, Dickson Wiya told the committee that he believes the contract should be cancelled and a proper tender be floated.

“The BTO would then have to pay for the hardware, software and shipping of the machines to Botswana if we terminate the contract,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister called on the committee to communicate their recommendations in writing to help them do things procedurally.

He bemoaned that they have taken too long grappling with the issue and wish to see it closed so they could implement the levy. The minister also clarified that BTO would take $20 while ASUA would take $10 as per the current contract.