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.
"The Botswana National Sport Commission was the project's designated Procurement Entity. Whilst the Bid Committee could request funding for specific tasks per budget, we did not directly make payment. We secured sponsorship for an audit to be undertaken for the entire life of the Bid Committee by a reputable Audit Firm in Botswana. These two facts gave us hope against any apprehension that there could be some financial misconduct. Save for activities outside the remit of the Bid Committee, one is fairly confident that any form of misappropriation would be unlikely," he added. Mamelodi said he is unaware what could have motivated a probe into the bid process. "I do not know what influenced the investigation other than misappropriation allegations that were being extensively peddled after we lost the bid. Yes, I was surprised but as indicated earlier, the investigation might be important to clear the air," he said. "As the Bid Committee, we were fairly confident of success as we had submitted a compelling bid. We have it on good authority that the Audit Inspections report (which we have been denied full access to), placed Botswana second to Algeria with Nigeria, Benin, Senegal, and the Pamoja trio following. Algeria then withdrew from the race. Botswana lost the bid when the Audit Inspection report was abandoned by the CAF Executive Committee for the purpose of deciding the successful bid. Sometimes in football, when decisions are determined through a vote, all sorts of other considerations take precedence." Reddy, in an interview earlier this week, said he was not aware of any investigation into the bid. He, however, said he was surprised that the process was being investigated. "No, I am not aware of an investigation by the Botswana Parliament to investigate the AFCON bid process.
However, it is surprising that they are investigating the bid process," he said. As he had stated previously, Reddy defended the cost of the bid book. "It remains my response that the bid is resource driven with costs associated with a resource plan, with clear deliverables and the production of the Bid Book. All of this was presented to our client, the Ministry of Sport, in our proposal," Reddy said. He said their hands are clean, but could not immediately commit if he will avail himself for the investigation. "We will examine the terms of reference of the investigation and respond accordingly," he said. For his part, former Sport minister Rakgare said he is ready to "deal with the matter". "I listened to the issue and what the Minister (of Sport and Arts, Jacob Kelebeng) said. Some of the things that were said in Parliament are unfortunate and we will deal with this matter when the time comes," Rakgare said.
