In a lawsuit where one spy unit agent, Kuda Malikongwa is seeking P2.2 million in compensation for unlawful arrest and detention, she has pointed fingers at the Director General (DG) of the DIS, Peter Magosi, for undermining the DIS legal office. According to the agent who is also the deputy director in the legal department, Magosi’s failure to consult on legal matters has cost government a lot of money especially in legal matters. “As such, I was often called simply to clean up where there was a problem. My objections to the Director General's conduct worsened the relationship between us,” she said.
In seeking redress, Malikongwa stated that the DG had a habit of undermining the legal office of the Directorate, of which she was a part, by negotiating and drafting contracts with the assistance of non-legal persons or external legal persons unconnected to the business of the Directorate. Malikongwa said she was continually required by Magosi to draft and execute contracts, which were clearly irregular if not downright unlawful. “I generally either stalled or declined to draft and execute the contracts, many of which had no written instructions, were non-compliant with local and international laws and were on the face of it corrupt,” stated the agent. According to the court papers, she submitted that in the course of her service, she became aware that, "the DG was meddling in procurement matters regarding other government departments or agencies instead of playing an advisory role within statutory limits." Malikongwa revealed that she raised objections to irregular conduct regarding projects and procurement such as where contracts were finalised without engaging her or the Director-Legal.
She said on account of that, Magosi no longer had a good working relationship with her and no longer wanted her in the DIS more so that he had a habit of putting service providers on site before any procurement process was followed and then ordering the drafting of retrospective contracts to which conduct she verbally objected. “On many occasions, Magosi would allege that the contracts were ordered by "bagolo" (elders). My stalling and refusals led to a bad working relationship with the Director General. As a result, the Director General no longer desired me in the Directorate and fabricated accusations of leaking against me,” she said, "for refusing to perform a clearly corrupt transaction ordered by Magosi whereof he had verbally ordered (over the phone at the time he was in the presence of the potential service providers) her to ensure the purchase, with State resources, of farm animals, namely Karakul sheep, from among other countries, Uzbekistan.” She revealed that she was instructed to bypass all government procurement procedures and reporting lines and the supplier, in the corrupt and unlawful transaction, was an Afghanistan national with existing contractual ties to the DIS. “The DG specifically ordered me that no one should know about the procurement and that the Attorney General, the Permanent Secretary (State President), as well as my immediate superior, Director Legal - Pulane Kgoadi, were to be kept in the dark about the transaction,” she said.
Malikongwa also indicated that the sheep were to arrive at a location to be disclosed by Magosi and that he disregarded the fact that her role was not to procure but to draft contracts and ensure compliance. She alleged that she refused to perform the order leading to frustration on the part of Magosi and severe tongue lashing(s) by him. “The Director General refused to give any written mandate for the instruction and further refused to follow internal procurement procedures, national and international laws. He stated that the unlawful and unprocedural procurement of the Karakul sheep had been ordered by the former president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, and that the procurement had not been executed due to financial constraints,” she revealed. The agent also stated that Magosi had further instructed that only the Directorate's Chief of Staff should know about the transaction and that she was provided by Magosi with, and in fact met with external agents appointed by him, to facilitate the procurement. She alleged that as a result of her stalling which infact was a refusal to perform the corrupt and unlawful instruction, Magosi removed her from the contract and allocated it to a junior officer to ensure its conclusion further bypassing the Head of Legal. “I was involved in an investigation into the possible breach of aviation safety and laws at Air Botswana, which breach put Batswana at risk. In the course of the investigation the name of Magosi was mentioned leading to him being a person of interest in revelations of possible breach of procurement procedures and due diligence in aircraft that Air Botswana were procuring,” she explained.
She said she was immediately removed from the investigations and a baseless accusation of "leaking" was then made against her and that in order to pre-empt the investigation and to tarnish her reputation and to destroy her credibility, the DIS commenced a false investigation against her, and other officers including but not limited to Paul Setlhabi and Pulane Kgoadi, the ultimate aim of which was to suspend them from DIS (which he did) and ultimately, to completely remove them from the same. In conclusion she averred that prior to the afore-going, differences between Magosi and her and as a result of the unlawful arrest and detention she suffered harm and that the government is the sole cause of the harm through the acts of the officers from the DIS and the police.
She said the harm she suffered is the fault of the Botswana government and as a result, she is entitled to compensation of unlawful arrest(s), (P400, 000), unlawful detention(s), (P400, 000), breach of privacy through unlawful search of person and home (P400, 000), denial of access to family assistance at arrest and during detention (P500, 000), denial of access to legal counsel at arrest and during detention (P500, 000). In the end she wants judgment in the sum of P2, 200, 000.
