Why I did not attend Nchindo service-Mogae

TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA
Staff Writer | Friday February 19, 2010 00:00

 

'On that day, I had engagements I could not opt out of and so I could not make the service,' he explained. He said his wife was at the service to be with the Nchindo's in their time of bereavement. He said he did not inform the Nchindo's of his absence because he was not invited to the service. 'I was told that the service would be by invitation only. I was not invited,' he said.

At the time when Nchindo died, he was engaged in a public spat with his former friend Mogae. The former president accused Nchindo of attempting to blackmail him before he left office to influence the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to drop charges against him (Nchindo). He stated that Nchindo threatened to divulge damaging information about him and his predecessor Ketumile Masire.

In the lead-up to the spat between the two men, damaging revelations had come to the open about how Nchindo organised funds from the mining conglomerate De Beers to bail-out a broke Masire when he was president. These revelations did irreparable damage to Masire's political legacy. The ensuing public outcry led to many suggesting that the source of the revelations could have been Nchindo, who denied the claims.