DCEC �elite� unit disbanded
Staff Writer | Friday August 4, 2017 18:00
In the wake of the redeployment of director general, Rose Seretse from DCEC to the newly -stablished Botswana Energy Regulatory Authority (BERA), Mmegi has uncovered a sinister plot to finish off the DCEC Unit. This Unit has been a thorn in the flesh of the director general of Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), for years.
This follows unconfirmed reports that Central Intelligence Committee (CIC) has decided to clear Kgosi of all the corruption charges leaving only the one lesser maladministration charge. The DCEC Unit was in 2012 tasked with investigating the rampant allegations of corruption, abuse of power and money laundering against Kgosi. Mmegi has all the names of the agents who were investigating Kgosi.
Today some of those agents have been forced to resign, others controversially transferred to other departments while others were redeployed far away from the Unit. Last month a key manager in the Unit, Itumeleng Phuthego, was placed under a controversial suspension after revelations of the investigations against Minister Prince Maele and multi millionaire businessman Simbi Phiri of Khato Civils.
Another high-ranking officer at the DCEC, Botlhale Makgekgenene, who was the deputy director general, was recently transferred to the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security. Sources say these transfers are as a result of witch-hunting of the Unit by the DIS. This has dampened morale of the remaining anti-corruption agents. The war to destroy the Unit has been going on for years and Seretse has been its last lifeline.
In 2015, the press intercepted a DCEC savingram written by DCEC boss and addressed to Kgosi revealing how the spy chief threatened one of its investigators. In the letter that was widely publicised, Seretse wrote: “I am advised that on Thursday 8th March 2012, you threatened this Directorate’s Senior Assistant Director [name withheld]”. Rose further wrote: “Known DIS officers have been observed conducting surveillance of DCEC headquarters.
I am also advised by my staff that DIS officers have been seen shriveling DCEC staff performing duties away from DCEC headquarters in the course of this investigation”. Seretse also admitted the magnitude of going after Kgosi with such assets of resources and information. She said: “This was always going to be a difficult investigation. This Directorate is attempting to conduct a thorough and objective investigation with a view to resolving the allegations in a proper manner”.
“This cannot happen if my staff are to be subjected to threats, intimidation and ongoing surveillance [sic]. You will recall that you had made an undertaking to cooperate and support the DCEC during this investigation. However the situation on the ground appears not to be so”. At the height of DCEC’s investigation, both Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and the police guarded the investigators.
Seretse received protection from a team of DCEC intelligence, Botswana Police special units with assistance from military intelligence. Her then deputy, Donald McKenzie, an Australian, was guarded by American and British security agents. McKenzie was forced to send his family back to Australia following intelligence that his life, that of his wife and children were under threat. At one point, the DIS attempted to deport him alleging that he did not possess a work permit and the Australian High Commission in Pretoria advised McKenzie to terminate his contract and save his life.
McKenzie however chose to stay in the country until December 2013 when his contract ended. The revelation of probes against high profile and ‘connected’ individuals close to the Office of the President such as Kgosi, Minister Maele and Phiri of Khato Civils have been seen as Seretse’s (who is President Ian Khama’s relative) stubborn stance against toeing the line and protecting the Khama’s associates.
The outgoing DCEC boss, Seretse last week denied that they are ‘killing’ the Unit, but has confirmed the departure of senior officers who were in the task team of investigating the spy chief. “The Unit is still in existence. We are done with the Kgosi docket and I would not know of any charges having been dropped as the docket is with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions [DPP],” she said. Efforts to get answers from the then DPP director, Abraham Keetshabe with regards to the Kgosi docket were futile.