Last Friday, Parliament approved a motion presented by the Molepolole North Member of Parliament, Araf Khan, to probe the P65 million process (inclusive of the bid book). In 2023, the Botswana government, through the then Ministry of Youth, Gender Sport and Culture, decided to bid for the rights to host the 2027 AFCON finals. Due to prohibitive costs, estimated at more than P10 billion, Gaborone authorities courted Namibia for a joint-bid, after efforts to have Zambia as a third partner fell through.
However, at the last minute, Namibia pulled out citing a drought, which had necessitated Windhoek to channel funds towards addressing the disaster. Botswana was largely expected to pull out after Namibia's decision, but the then-minister responsible for Sport, Tumiso Rakgare, announced at a press conference that the country had decided to go solo. Seasoned administrator, Ashford Mamelodi, was appointed as the chairperson of the bid committee. A South African company, Ruben Reddy Architects, which had carried a facilities audit for P2.2 million, was engaged to put together a bid document at a cost of P61 million. In a previous interview with MmegiSport, the company's director, Ruben Reddy, defended the cost of the 569-page book. "The proposal to prepare the bid book is based on a resource plan and associated costs to undertake the production of the project. This includes the cost of specific expertise in sports bidding," Reddy said at the time. "The information in the bid book is not lost to the people of Botswana as it provides a launch pad for further development of general infrastructure and specifically sport facilities," he added. Botswana lost the right to organise the 2027 tournament to a joint East African bid from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, which indicated it had put together the bid process at a cost of around P10 million. With Parliament preparing to set up a Special Select Committee to probe the process, Mamelodi, Reddy, and Rakgare welcomed the investigation, which could end speculation around the bid. Mamelodi said whilst unsettling, Parliament's decision to carry out an investigation will prove or clear any wrongdoing. "I believe that the decision has two sides to it: whilst as former chairman of the Bid Committee, the possibility of misuse of funds in respect of this project is somewhat unsettling; on the other hand findings of the Parliamentary investigation will prove or disprove any allegations of wrongdoing and thereby put this matter to bed once and for all," Mamelodi told MmegiSport this week.
