Retracing Nchindo's last footsteps

RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer | Tuesday February 23, 2010 00:00

Reports that former Debswana managing director Louis Goodwill Nchindo was missing, and finally found dead, had attracted reinforcements of the army, police and intelligence sleuths amongst others to comb the Chobe forest. They were searching for answers to the nagging questions surrounding the missing and ultimate passing on of Nchindo.

To some lodge owner this was a grand opportunity as some of them were able to sell their rooms to the visiting government officials who were in this area for about three to four days on official work.

Whilst some people were actually sympathising with the Nchindo family about their missing father, some made a killing in terms of serving meals to the working officers in Pandamatenga, Kazungula and Kasane.

There was heavy movement of motor vehicles bearing both private and government registration numbers across the township, it is reported. They would later disappear to various destinations where they had originated only leaving a few of them. Those who remained behind were mainly scene-of-crime experts to further search the area for any possible evidence. This follows the discovery of Nchindo's remains near one of the farms in Pandamatenga last week.

In fact, even by Wednesday this week, we learnt about the presence and saw some of the detectives based in Francistown who were still at the scene in their endeavour to leave no stone unturned. They would not discuss the nature of their work with the press. But as we had our meal in Kasane with some of them clad in overalls, it was apparent they were still eager to get to the heart of the matter.

The presence of these many strange faces in the entire Chobe but mainly in Kasane, Kazungula and Pandamatenga had left many wondering if they should ever talk to strangers again. This is because some of them were made to answer many penetrating questions as if they had answers to the puzzles that surrounded Nchindo's disappearance and reported suicide.

Take the example of Truck Inn Lodge in Pandamatenga where Nchindo used to spend his valuable time in company of his friends. But, the young woman at the till was hesitant to simply confirm that whenever Nchindo was in Pandamatenga he would not pass without tasting their meat and drinks.

Apparently, this was Nchindo's regular joint in Pandamatenga whenever he was possibly from the farms within the area.

The many police detectives and intelligence officers who also quizzed the patrons about this and that last week had apparently instilled fear in them to the extent that they would hardly talk for fear of possibly releasing' incriminating' information. This has left these people highly suspicious of anyone who comes closer to them and let alone ask them questions about Nchindo's death.

To them it is a continuous 'ga ke itse' which simply means 'I don't know' even on obvious things.

It was not surprising that the Truck Inn Lodge till operator who refused to give her name later called her colleague from the other side of the shop so that she could not talk to us.

A few years ago, it was right here in Pandamatenga that Nchindo, during his tenure as the Debswana boss, launched a farming scheme that gave a good number of people an opportunity to benefit from the country's agriculture industry. He was a familiar face here in company of the press and other guests who matter in society.

But, to those who did not know him, they saw in him a great tourist who was always in company of many friends, oblivious of the role that he had played in empowering some farmers in their area.

You will be surprised that ironically, in the village of Pandamatenga, Nchindo is least known except to a few that have read about him in the local press recently and this is mainly the working class.

Reports show that besides his decomposing torso at the scene, the police were able to recover Nchindo's Omang identity card and driver's licence amongst his valuables a few metres from the torso. It is suspected that the way the documents were found, suggests that it was either they fell from his pockets or he dropped them himself before taking his life, as it is suspected.

Two government officials who were in the search party described the scene where the torso was discovered as horrific. 'You can imagine gathering pieces of the body of such a respectable millionaire broken into pieces possibly by scavengers that were possibly first at the scene,' said a source from the Pandamatenga police station, who preferred anonymity. He said the pieces were like those that had just passed through a grinding machine.

At Kazungula where he has a multi-million Pula mansion on the banks of the Chobe River, which is an attractive architectural structure, Nchindo is still least known. He is best remembered only by a few as a diamond mogul who only came to Kasane from Gaborone, to visit and spend his time at the lodges and in selected places.

At one of the filling stations in Kazungula we got an explanation that Nchindo is originally from across the Chobe River in Impalila Island in Namibia. This is despite the fact that we know his father who is said to have come from Zambia and the mother from Tlokweng, where he spent most of his youth.

'Gatwe o tswa go ne kwa. Ga se Mosubiya (I have learnt he comes from that side and he is not a Mosubiya),' explained the young woman who served us at a local Internet cafe, pointing to the west across the Chobe River.

Although Nchindo's name has become synonymous with Botswana diamonds, the young woman at A-D-B Internet Cafe or Phangwagwa Enterprises, who provided us with Internet services, did not even know that Nchindo worked for Debswana, the company that has developed Botswana into a middle-income country in Africa.

Whilst Gaborone people know Nchindo fully as a socialite and a major player in the country's diamond industry and even internationally, his name does not really ring a bell to most people here.

One of the women we interviewed in town simply said that she had heard from some of her peers indicating, 'Nchindo can be seen on the Internet'.

But people who work or worked at the lodges were very familiar with Nchindo whom they described as a man who enjoyed the company of a chosen few. Perhaps, most people thought he was aloof because he did not have a business that could have brought him closer to the ordinary villager.

Even after his death, in Kazungula village, it was business as usual, with people playing their music as loud as ever as if nothing had happened. Even before it was announced that Nchindo's remains would be ferried to Gaborone, villagers were reportedly not showing any interest especially when they were informed that all the ceremonies would be private.  It seems they were irked by the reports that the family had requested for time to mourn on their own without the public.

In contrast former area MP, Duncan Mlazie, who has businesses around town and is always spotted at some of them and brought even closer to the people by politics, is generally a familiar face.

Even for Pandamatenga, Kazungula and Kasane police officers and other stakeholders from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks and the army who were in the search party last week, some of them have only seen Nchindo in pictures from the newspapers and television clips.

Residents here who thought they would have a rare opportunity of entering Nchindo's multi-million Pula mansion, if the funeral were finally held here, had their dreams shattered as the family relocated to Gaborone immediately after the remains were found.

The DNA test was conducted in Gaborone and the cremation done in Mahalapye, leaving the residents convinced that indeed Nchindo was a Gaborone man and not one of their own here.

Access to Nchindo's mansion is not easy. The house is situated at the bank of the Chobe River far away from the main gate in an obviously big yard.

The mansion is a huge structure, which my colleague and Mmegi photographer, Karabo Sename, could only describe as a 'big box'. It sits on a private piece of land, which is not easily accessible. It is possibly the only private property with a tarred road branching off from the main road.

If by any chance one strays onto the road leading to Nchindo's property, one will be facing huge CCTV cameras, which are part of the property's security system.

It is written boldly that the property is protected by Wayguard Security. If one gets even closer to the main gate, this prompts the guards from inside to become even more aggressive and possibly confront you with their fierce dogs.

A Botswana Television (Btv) crew recently regretted their attempt to visit the place when the Chobe community was still searching for the 'missing' Nchindo. One of them described how he could not open the doors of the car as the security officers were 'armed with their fierce dogs'.

At the end of it all, Nchindo's son, Garvas, proved to be a brave young man as he is reportedly the one who drove his father's bakkie from the scene at Pandamatenga to the Kasane police station.

At the Cresta Mowana Safari Lodge, unconfirmed reports showed that on his last Sunday, Nchindo was spotted faxing a stack of papers at the Business Centre. But the details of what he was actually faxing there remain sketchy. However, those in the know suspect that that could have been the last time he was in contact with family members and those who mattered in his life.