Khama, Masire names used fraudulently in Miss Botswana bid

The self-described “founder and convenor” of the Setswana debates, Bruce Nkgakile, is not one to flinch when dropping a name that might make things happen a little faster. A source says that Nkgakile, who has secured a deal to host Miss Botswana for the next five years, used the names of President Lieutenant General Ian Khama and former president, Sir Ketumile Masire to bolster his bid.

Botswana Guardian’s information is that Nkgakile claimed that he briefs both Khama and Masire quarterly on the Setswana debates but that information is being disputed. Khama’s senior private secretary, Brigadier George Tlhalerwa, stated that he has “not been privileged” to meet Nkgakile in person.“I know his name, I don’t know his face and I haven’t met him,” Tlhalerwa said.

That negates Nkgakile’s claim that about the quarterly briefings because as senior private secretary, Tlhalerwa is the one who facilitates access to the president and would have had to meet and see Nkgakile’s face in the process of arranging for such briefings.Charles Mogotsi, Masire’s private secretary, said that while Nkgakile does indeed make such briefing, he is “not sure” that happens every quarter per se.“He occasionally comes to brief the former president but I am not aware of a formal arrangement for such briefings,” Mogotsi said on Wednesday.

We further learn that in February this year when a meeting with the Botswana Council of Women, which owns Miss Botswana pageant, took a bit too long to happen, Nkgakile told a BCW official that he was to accompany Masire on a trip to Senegal and asked that they meet before he left.“No, I am the one who accompanied Rre Masire to Senegal,” said Mogotsi when asked to confirm this detail.Botswana Guardian also learns that Masire was to be part of a body to be known as the “Miss Botswana Advisory Board.” Mogotsi disavowed knowledge of this, saying that he doubts any meeting to make the former president part of such venture would happen without his involvement. He added that last year when Nkgakile organised the Setswana Debate Cup competitions and would come to brief Masire, he was the one who facilitated such access.

“He would have had to go through me. I am not aware if that happened without my involvement,” Mogotsi said.Kgosi Puso Gaborone of the Batlokwa is also supposed to be on that Board but he tells a completely different story.“That’s news to me. I know all the boards that I am a member of and that is definitely not one of them. I have no association with the Miss Botswana pageant whatsoever,” he said.

However, Gaborone acknowledged having met Nkgakile last year when he was organising the Setswana debates at which King Goodwill Zwelithini of South Africa was to feature as a guest of honour. For some reason, the king couldn’t make it, instead sending a delegation of palace aides, one of them his son. Gaborone hosted this delegation at his kgotla in Tlokweng. It has since emerged that Nkgakile has business relations with the Zulu king.A law student at the University of Botswana, the 25-year old Nkgakile runs the Setswana debates through an organisation called the Debate Masters Association, a name very similar to the University of Botswana Debate Masters Association (UBDMA).

This similarity confuses people and too often they don’t know which association they are dealing with. Student clubs at UB are registered by the Student Representative Council but according to Tiro Diepo, the vice president of the Council, the Debate Masters Association is not registered with them and therefore, not part of UB.

Mogotsi admitted that he has “not done much research” on Nkgakile’s Association and explained that when he took up his current assignment at Masire’s office, this relationship had already been established.To set the record straight, UBDMA has written a letter in which it says that it is not associated in any way with the Miss Botswana pageant, emphasising that its interest is in debate and not beauty pageants.

Save to state that the Debate Masters Association is part of UB, Nkgakile has declined to comment while stating that he reserves the right to sue for defamation should he be portrayed in negative light.