Suspected rot at the BDA as commission of enquiry hits a snag

Gasebalwe Seretse
Correspondent | Friday January 18, 2013 00:00

Speaking to Mmegi in an interview, the members, dubbed Moupo's commission of enquiry, said their efforts to secure funds to assist them undertake their duties have proven futile. 

'Our hands are tied because we don't have money to visit the BDA properties which include two farms and shops,' said the commission chairman Lekoko Moupo. He added that the BDA caretaker committee chaired by Pilikwe village chief Kgosi Bokopano Koodibetse has made things difficult for them.

One of the members of the commission, Diphimotswe Koloi wondered why the caretaker committee was not supportive of the commission of enquiry although it was assigned by the village leadership. 'This attitude is disappointing as we were banking on the committee's support. All we needed was P500 to kick-start our duties,' he said. 

Defending their stance, the committee chairman Kgosi Bokopano Koodibetse said his committee declined to assist the commission of enquiry since it was not set up by the BDA but the Pilikwe community. He also pointed out that since the BDA is currently disputed as Palapye and Radisele claim a stake in it, the caretaker committee had to be careful how the funds are spent.

Moupo's commission of enquiry was set up after the majority of Pilikwe residents expressed concern about what they perceive as secretive operations at the BDA with others suspecting that there might be misappropriation of community funds and properties.

The BDA was set up by Kgosi Tshekedi Khama in the late 1950s with the assistance of Guy Clutton-Brock an agricultural advisor and priest from Rusape in the then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). It has been hailed as the country's first modern-style non-governmental organisation or cooperative.