I did nothing wrong - Seretse

Staff Writer | Friday January 15, 2010 00:00

 

Minister of Defence Justice and Security, Ndelu Seretse says there is nothing wrong with his Ministry buying services from a company he co-owns with his wife Sandra Salome Seretse.  

Seretse and his wife Sandra Salome Seretse are the directors of RFT Botswana a major player in the defence and security industry. RFT Botswana supplies ammunition, firearms, surveillance cameras and electronic security equipment to the security organs which fall directly under Seretse's ministry.

Seretse says there is no question of impropriety on his part indicating that there are many ways to control any potential for conflict of interest. Seretse says conflict of interest can be actual and apparent, arguing that in his dealings there was never any 'actual' conflict.

He says there may have been potential for conflict of interest, retorting, 'Where that was a concern we took steps to make sure that we are not engaging in anything corrupt'. He says there are steps he took to minimize the chances of his personal business interests compromising his ability to do his ministerial duties independently. 'For example I have declared my business interests to the President. He has the ability to put mechanisms in place to investigate where there is wrongdoing. Furthermore tenders dealt with in any Ministry are handled by the Ministerial Tender Committee on which I do not sit. Furthermore whenever a transaction in which you have an interest you recuse yourself in order to prevent this conflict,' he says.

When Mmegi asked whether he does not think his influence in all matters in his ministry is obvious whether he is physically present or not, he said the civil service is made up of professionals who have independent minds to deal with every matter effectively.

He says he formed the company before he became Minister and he will not quit it. The company was involved in selling television sets, and then later moved to IT equipment, where it got business from government. However, it is in the security and defence business that the company has made its mark, acquiring major tenders from the government's security organs.

Seretse does not deny that his company has supplied his ministry with services and some hardware although he would not state the total cost of his supplies to departments under his own ministry. While Minister Seretse believes that the President has ways of trying to ensure his dealings with departments under his ministry are above board he seems to be scantily concerned about the public perception that he and the President are family and that blood is thicker than water.

Minster Seretse's situation is even compounded by the fact that the Director of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime Rose Seretse is married to minister Seretse's cousin.

Would she be willing to unleash her corruption busters on her boss who is also her cousin and royalty? It is a guarded secret trying to get what is usually routine information like how many tenders were won by a particular company. Mmegi could only stumble on what is believed to be a small tender won by minister Seretse's company.

Last year the company reportedly supplied Itemizer Desktop Explosives and Narcotics Detector in a tender worth P369 050.  However, BDF and Directorate of Intelligence and Security, the known buyers of such equipment, are protected under the National Security Act which bars the release of any information on their procurement deals. Both BDF and DIS take the biggest chunk of the Ministry accounting for a total of P3.93 billion of the Ministry's P7.1 billion total development budget. Requesting the DIS's allocation of P1.16 billion from parliament last year Seretse said the larger portion of the amount would go towards developing a  'high-tech surveillance platforms'.

Ironically, RFT Botswana deals in electronic surveillance and security equipment. In the 2008 financial year the company supplied hospitals with high-tech electronic equipment ranging from treatment tables to fetal monitors, a deal totaling P3 million. 

A study last year found that Botswana's economic and political landscape possessed a great potential for corruption owing to limited legislation regarding declaration of assets. The report by the Institute of Security Studies commissioned by the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime concluded  'The risk of (people in political positions) abusing their positions for personal gain has been noted to increase significantly in jurisdictions like Botswana where there is no obligation placed on them to declare their assets. The government has consistently rejected calls to consider legislation to compel declaration of assets'.

Meanwhile a questionaire sent to the DCEC Director Rose Seretse regarding her relations with minister Seretsedrew a blank. Seretse, recently appointed into her position, is a cousin-in-law to the Minister and President Ian Khama. Among the questions posed to the director was whether being a cousin to Seretse could not be seen to compromise her ability to deal with matters relating to her cousin objectively. She was further asked to elaborate on matters of conflict of interest concerning her cousin who is also her boss.