The former board, led by Marumo Morule, has reportedly taken up the issue with the Office of the President and Chief of Staff, complaining about governance issues, including the appointment of Chief Executive Officer Olebile Sikwane. The members are also questioning the manner of their dismissal, arguing it was not in line with the BNSC Act. Morule was assigned by the dismissed members to request a meeting with Kelebeng. The agenda of the meeting was to facilitate and guide the handover process and the appropriate closure of their short-lived tenure. “A follow-up was made by the former board chairperson, Tebogo Lebotse Sebego, urging the minister to prioritise this meeting on the basis of the unmanaged and speculative public narrative, which is harmful to the personal brands of the individuals and to the brand positioning of Botswana sports. To date, our efforts to facilitate a meeting with Minister Kelebeng have been futile,” the report reads in part.
Reacting to the claims, Kelebeng told MmegiSport that he has never refused to meet the former board. He explained that by the time the request for a meeting was made, he was busy with Cabinet business, and the plan was to find time the following week, but the previous board decided to approach the Chief of Staff. “The report was not meant for me; it was meant for the Office of the President and the Chief of Staff because they wanted to report to me. I do not have a copy of that report. What is surprising about that report is that it came out after I removed them from the BNSC board. "If they were genuine enough, they could have given me the report before. The only thing they spoke to me about was that they wanted to hand over some documents. After I had agreed that we would find a date for them the following week, they went to the Office of the President (OP) that same week. The next week, when I was to find a date, I received a telephone call from the Chief of Staff informing me about their visit,” he said. Kelebeng said it came as a shock that a report was compiled and submitted to OP, because it seems there were some issues the previous board raised that never reached his office. He said it indicated a problem because the board should have revealed those issues earlier.
