Rakgare lied about P1 million toilet block
The Ministry of Local Government has yet to release the findings of the commission of inquiry set up four years ago to investigate possible corruption in the awarding of a school toilet tender in Mogoditshane, and evaluate other similar ones nationwide despite a promise by the then Minister, Eric Molale.
In 2020 a passionate Minister of Youth, Sports, Culture and Gender, Tumiso Rakgare allegedly lied about the P1 million toilet saga in Nkoyaphiri Primary School.
A lie that had to be protected by the then Minister of Local Government Eric Molale who instituted a commission of enquiry into the issue against the advice of people within government.
According to an anonymous source, the government used more millions than the alleged cost of P1 million to investigate the alleged cost of the toilet by having a commission of enquiry to look into the matter even though different government stakeholders had advised against it.
Allegedly, the then Member of Parliament (MP) for Mogoditshane, Rakgare had approached a senior at Mogoditshane council asking for some Indians to be given an open space on the pretext that they are investors who will build a hardware store to employ Mogoditshane youth.
The council employee is said to have strongly opposed this idea telling the former MP that he should identify young people in Mogoditshane and facilitate them to start businesses.
The source accuses Rakgare of getting so angry that he threatened the said officer.
The source noted that the rift between the two parties culminated in the former MP bringing local journalists to Nkoyaphiri Primary under the pretext that the toilet cost P1 million to shame the council as he was allegedly at war with them.
Rakgare is said to have continued to blow the whistle on the issue even though the toilet did not cost P1 million.
According to official documents, the toilet in question is a block of toilets with 10 toilets inside. Which was constructed at the tune of P545 000 excluding tax.
At the same time, different government organs such as Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS), Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Ministry of Local Government had teams look into the corruption allegations raised by Minister Rakgare.
According to inside sources, the Minister of Local Government Eric Molale did not listen to advice from government organs who said that there was no alleged corruption with the tender.
Molale further opened a commission of inquiry on the matter which ended up costing taxpayers more monies than the alleged corruption regarding the Nkoyaphiri toilet and all the toilets in primary
schools being constructed at the time.
Molale had said that the findings of the investigations would be made public but they were never made public.
The commission was made up of eight people from the private sector who were allegedly paid P2000 sitting allowance per hour by government excluding transportation costs, accommodation costs, support staff costs for almost six months.
Allegedly, the commission of inquiry was paid millions even though government itself could conduct thorough investigations which could have saved the country money.
Rakgare vehemently denies allegations that he wanted to give Indian people land in Mogoditshane to build a hardware. He explained that as cabinet they decided that all Batswana should have facilities that have running water and meet health standards to keep Batswana safe.
He stated that government decided to give Local Government the money as it is close to the people, and as a responsible MP he decided to tour all the primary schools in his constituency.
“Out of seven schools in Mogoditshane - four Primary schools, two junior high schools and one senior school, Nkoyaphiri was the only one which an ablution block was being built in,” Rakgare said, adding that he got the shock of his life when he got there. Because the council representatives told him that they had budgeted P1 million for the toilet block.
Rakgare is adamant that P1 million cannot build an ordinary toilet block and he suspects foul play as a week later he alleges that the contractor was instructed to remove the septic tank because there is a sewage line that could connect the toilet block to the sewage line.
Rakgare said that the cost was inflated because when they were in Tutume a similar ablution block was built for just P480 000. He further said that those that allege that he had a fallout with any council person are lying, as he does not have any connection with nor does any business dealing with them.
He explained that he has always been very vocal about the way they do business in the nation and lies and allegations against him were peddled by people who wanted to steal from this nation.
Molale had assured the public that the commission’s findings would be made public. However, four years later, no report has been released. The Ministry of Local Government did not respond to questions sent to them by press time.