Tendering sleaze goes unabated
Friday, November 27, 2020
If we may jog the mind of a loyal Mmegi reader, not too long ago a Chinese firm was also barred from doing an infrastructure project as the company was deemed a security risk by the same DIS. China Jiangsu International (Botswana) to be precise, were paid P112 million compensation to walk away having done nothing on the project.
We ask this question: “Should it also follow that the local firm that won the SPEDU tender in Selebi-Phikwe quoted elsewhere in this publication be given a similar golden handshake and walk away?”
The Francistown Umbrella Informal Sector chairperson, David Mbulawa, has highlighted this growing concern, revealing that many local traders are using their licences to facilitate the entry of foreign goods into the market at a fee.Fronting undermines the very fabric of our local economy. It allows foreign traders to exploit the system designed to benefit Batswana, using local licences to cross borders and sell goods at prices intended for local...