Bishop Seane�s troubles deepen
Tsaone Basimanebotlhe | Friday August 25, 2017 18:00
The former clergy, at the centre of sexual immorality controversy, has fresh accusations levelled against him, and members have escalated their concerns to the Roman Catholic authorities in Italy. The Bishop and other Priests called the stigmatines, took three vows, of poverty (they will not own any property and live a simple life), obedience (church) and chastity (that they will not marry). Vicar general, Andrew Makgetla joined the passionists, whose vows are similar to those of the stigmatines and sisters.
The Catholic community has since written to headquarters in Rome requesting for a forensic audit. In their strong worded letter, they state, “it is solely at the Bishop’s discretion on how this scarce irreplaceable asset is used. There is a recent development joint venture with Time Projects of 14 apartments plus one large house allegedly for Bishop’s use in the Kgale site. The apartments are for profit sharing after sale. They remain unsold, therefore funds therein and potential loss being a financial risk to the church”.
The concerned members also raised a concern over a company formed by Seane and Makgetla. “A company was formed in 2012 named Bears Breaches to purchase 50% stake in a car wash franchise for P1.5 million without any due diligence nor valuation of the franchise done. Further funds were injected to save face as the unscrupulous South African franchiser called for more money for stock consumables like shampoos, paints and sometimes salaries to keep the unprofitable venture running,” reads their letter.
The members further state that the Bishop later in 2014 disposed of the shares to a local company for P800, 000. They lament that it was a bad investment, an inappropriate and improper application of funds when a list of worthwhile compared to projects that resonate with the church ethos of societal development and social responsibility like education and care for the poor and needy. Mmegi has since seen company documents showing that Seane and Makgetla owned the company before shares were transferred to the current owners.
In the letter to Cardinal Marc Quellet in Rome, Italy, the Catholics claimed that Seane sidelined or operated unilaterally in decision-making process on all pertinent issues particularly of application of financial resources, which tend to expose consistently the intent “to defraud or channel benefit where it is not appropriate. The credibility of the Finance Committee is questionable”.
It says the development of Ave Maria pastoral centre and infrastructure was estimated at P70 million.
The letter says though the development was meant to benefit the church growth and enhance spiritual growth, on the contrary the use is purely commercial, operating as a brothel, and also entertainment/conferencing centre albeit illegally, as it is not licensed under Botswana Trade Act due to the fact that there was no change of land use for the plot.
The members complain that moreover the proceeds from Ave Maria are not channelled through the church bank account.
However, the Chinese contractor who built Ave Maria, Jinyu Zhang said they were awarded the tender for P30 million to build the pastoral centre and other costs amounting to P35 million were for furniture, electricians amongst others. “All costs for the building to be in full operational might have been P65 million. If they had other costs, then the church is the one which could explain,” Jinyu explained.
The members complain that there was no transparency during the tendering process. The concerned members want the P2 million that was raised for the extension of the Cathedral office block by the then Vicar General Fr John Corrigan to be accounted for. “The extension of Cathedral block was instead done from Diocese coffers. The P2 million that was raised for the project under reference has since disappeared,” the letter reads.
Still in the same letter, the members accuse the Bishop of giving tenders to his brother without due tendering process being followed. His brother’s company is alleged to have been the one doing the media-related jobs. The members also accuse the Bishop of possessing two passports, one for Botswana and that of South Africa, which they say is illegal.
In response to the allegations raised in the letter Vicar General Makgetla pleaded ignorance of the correspondence. Makgetla said: “We don’t know anything about that letter. If the members have written to Roma and they do not copy the letter to us then we cannot have a copy of it. Even the press release we issued last time about the Bishop was a communication from our head office. We cannot communicate anything that we are not aware of. There is nothing that we are hiding as a church”.
On the issue of acquiring companies, Makgetla said him and Bishop Seane acquired shares at Bear Breaches proprietary limited on behalf of the church not for their benefit. “We were doing that for the church not for us. We don’t own companies because we are not allowed to do so,” he said.
What is shocking is that Roman Catholic Church is a registered entity and it could acquire shares on its own without having to ask a member to do on the behalf of the church.
Efforts to reach Seane for comment were not successful, as it is alleged that he might be in Rome, Italy for rehabilitation.