Trade secrets spilled in Tibone/Mogae case

GIDEON NKALA
Staff Writer | Friday July 11, 2008 00:00

 

As the fray unfolds, there is likely to be catastrophic revelations of trade secrets and ruination of once impenetrable friendships.

Information that is likely to be regarded as strategic or 'trade secrets' has been revealed as Mogae, Chief Justice, Julian Nganunu, and prominent businessmen and personalities such as Sam Mpuchane, Maclean Letshwiti, among others, fight with the Tibone-Lekalake axis over 21st Century Holdings.

In the dazzling maze of correspondence that is before court as supporting evidence, the shareholders show how they invested in strategic businesses.

The documents show the shareholders were informed about a lucrative deal that involved buying a stake in McCarthy, the retail owners of the Land Rover franchise in Botswana.  When McCarthy was selling, the 21st Century Holdings group was, apparently, approached. At the time, BMW South Africa, who are the owners of Land Rover South Africa, wanted to sell the franchise in Botswana to citizens.

The then chairperson of 21st Century and future Minister of Trade, Charles Tibone, wrote to shareholders informing them that BMW South Africa had approached the motor magnate and ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) treasurer, Satar Dada and asked him to form a citizen consortium.

'21st Century has been allocated a 10 percent share in the citizen consortium. This would mean an investment of P1 million by 21st Century in Land Rover Botswana'.

Tibone took the liberty to remind shareholders, who included the then President, Festus Mogae, Nganunu, top businessmen and very senior government officials, that the McCarthy retail depended largely on Central Transport Organisation (CTO) and BDF purchases. And there was even potential in retail.

'If this potential is exploited, the company is a good investment. We recommend that 21st Century should take up the 10 percent allocated,' wrote Tibone in the letter.

In one exchange of letters, then Debswana group secretary, Joe Matome, who was also secretary of 21st Century, invited shareholders to invest in RoadCorp Botswana.

'21st Century has been offered an opportunity to invest in an exciting new road transport venture, which was encouraged by Debswana and currently has contracts to ship goods for Debswana to its Orapa Expansion Project.

'This is a unique venture, which will be owned 51 percent by citizen groups of diverse nature. It is made more unique by the fact that the venture is intended to empower Batswana drivers by creating a group of 40 owner-drivers within five years.

The company will be helping to source finance for the owner-drivers and provide work for them. The company would not own horses, but it would have to purchase trailers, premises and other equipment to support the operation.

'The operation will require P10.5 million to become established in Botswana and 70 percent of this P70 million will be financed by a loan from a major bank,' Matome said in his note to shareholders.

The substantive case in which Tibone and Lekalake seek to remove Mpuchane, Emang Maphanyane, Letshwiti and Lawrence Khupe as directors of 21st Century and to decide on the contentious shareholding of the company is to be heard before Justice Unity Dow on August 20.

The applicants - Mogae and company - had succeeded in an urgent application to restrain Tibone and Lekalake from removing the four at an emergency general meeting, which was to be held on June 10.