President builds Mom state-of-the-art Mansion
President Mokgweetsi Masisi - an avowed fighter of corruption, allegedly has a cozy relationship that could compromise him - with one of the leading Chinese construction companies in the country, Unik Construction.
Unik Construction is a leading multimillion construction company that has been and continues to benefit from government tenders. Sources allege that the president is getting favours from the company as part of “kickbacks” for the company winning multimillion tenders from government.
The company is also said to be one of the financiers of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), a claim that Botswana Guardian could not independently verify as Botswana does not have a law that compels political parties to disclose their sponsors.
Attempts to contact both party secretary general, Kavis Kario, and party spokesperson Kagelelo Kentse Wednesday evening hit a snag.
Botswana Guardian investigations have revealed that the company, which is currently involved in a government project in Moshupa, is also constructing a state-of-the-art mansion for the president’s mother.
The mansion which has been under construction since 2021, only a year after Unik Construction started the Moshupa Sanitation Project in November 2020, a tender which according to insiders at the ministry of lands was awarded under dubious circumstances - is said to be a gift from the president to his mother.
Sources from the company have told this publication that engineers and builders from the company are always seconded to the site under the instruction of its Director, Yun Sun.
“We do not wholly fund the building because the president also funds it but we cannot tell if it’s from his personal purse or that of the public since as men on the ground we are not told everything that is happening.
“He does come here while we are at work to check on us and the progress on the project. We do not have a problem with doing the job especially for the president but our issue is that we are not being paid for the double work we do,” a source from Unik Construction, cried.
Another source, who is a supervisor in the Moshupa Sanitation project, which has also gained notoriety for claiming lives in the area and for poor health protocol practice said that, “HE also pays some cash for the project. Unik uses its staff for the bulk of the work especially engineers because this is not like your well-known house. Botswana Guardian saw ongoing construction at the said site.
“This is a sophisticated house with glass doors in-between and a rooftop where you land the helicopter which is why all along people have been thinking that it is a double storey house, it is not. The reinforce that we used there is for a double storey building but it is not a double storey. It is just that beautiful design from our people”.
This publication has been told that senior engineers who have the plan for the house have been directed to play cards close to their chests following Botswana Guardian’s first enquiry on the building in September 2022.
However, Unik Communications Director Sasara George denied that the company is involved in the construction of the property. Unik Construction Engineering has been involved in three projects in Botswana since 2019.
George admitted that the company is involved in government projects among them being in Water, Sanitation and Civil Structure (Rainbow Intersection).
George said that the Moshupa project started on the 19 November 2020 and is expected to be completed in April 2023. He told this publication that the project costs P893 million.
"Unik Construction Engineering is not involved in the construction of President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s residence in Moshupa," George said, adding that as a result the company cannot talk on issues of how much was used in the project, government involvement or whether there was declaration of conflict of interest between the company and the president.
Unik is said to have been involved in projects related to the president in the past. George stated that Unik Construction is involved in charitable work, which is good for the country and not the negative narrative that is being peddled. He said each year the company gives out P2 million through its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
The Office of the President has failed to respond to enquiries directed to them on the matter since last year. Botswana Guardian has made several enquiries on the issue to Government Spokesperson John Dipowe and Press Secretary to the President Masego Mosate since October last year.
Follow-up enquiries were also made in November and December last year and last week with no luck.