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BMC, Air Botswana, BotsPost default on P618m gov’t loans

Trying times: The Botswana Meat Commission has struggled to stay afloat in recent years PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE
Trying times: The Botswana Meat Commission has struggled to stay afloat in recent years PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), Air Botswana and BotswanaPost headline a list of parastatals struggling to pay government loans, with their collective debts last measured at P618 million.

According to the Auditor General’s latest report, which covers the year to March 2021, BMC owed government P248 million while the national airline was on the hook for P230 million and BotswanaPost P140 million.

In all three instances, the loans were made from government’s Public Service Debt Fund and date back several years. Bank of Botswana records show that BotswanaPost’s debt to government dates back to 2014–2015 and has gone without any repayments since then, while the BMC’s comprises two separate loans dating back to the 2019–2020 financial year. Air Botswana’s loan dates from 2018–2019.

Editor's Comment
Botswana must not be a flag of convenience for rogues

‘A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle and patriotism is loyalty to that principle’.- George William CurtisAccording to the report carried in this publication, the fraudsters operating the so-called “dark fleet” have selected Botswana’s flag as their cover of choice. This is a direct assault on our country’s most valuable asset, the good name.For decades, Botswana has...

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