Botswana Oil embroiled in corruption allegations

Botswana Oil Limited (BOL) finds itself entangled in alleged corruption activities in one of its multi-million Pula tenders for the expansion of the Francistown Depot.It is being accused of conflict of interest, bias, and lack of transparency, among others.BOL was set up to achieve the Botswana Government’s broader economic objectives of ensuring security of fuel supply and facilitating active citizen involvement in the petroleum industry. As the National Oil Company of Botswana, BOL serves as the Government’s transformation agent charged with this important responsibility.A formal complaint by a citizen company, Modern UTS, was first lodged with BOL on the 18th of July 2025 in relation to the Tender: Mechanical, Fire Fighting and Electrical Works –Francistown Expansion Project, Phase 2 (Tender Reference No: BOL/RFP/2025-26/02). The tender is estimated in the region of P350 million.The company, through its Managing Director, Kgomotso Matlapeng, in August this year, lodged this formal appeal to the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, and requested an immediate, independent investigation by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC).The company approached the ministry after rejecting the BOL response dated 12th August 2025, signed by Meshack Tshekedi, Chief Executive Officer, which dismisses its complaint lodged on 18th July 2025 regarding irregularities and bias in the tender process for the Francistown Expansion Project Phase 2.Matlapeng argued that the dismissal is based on misrepresentation of facts, failure to address substantive evidence, and a disregard for procurement transparency requirements under the Public Procurement Act, 2021. Sources at the Ministry have revealed that there has been a deliberate intent by the senior official to entertain the serious allegations levelled against BOL."I guess the report will not see the light of day since the process at BOL has not been halted. Only foreign-owned entities managed to pass, as it looks like the tender was designed for them," a senior officer at the ministry said.Another source at BOL stated, "This was a re-tender. All bidders were never furnished with reasons as to why the tender was hastily cancelled at a late hour and re-tendered. The bidders who were invited to participate were those who had participated and submitted on the cancelled tender, and it was 10 companies. The issue of ERB requirement for Engineers is also a serious allegation which needs attention."On Monday this week, BOL Procurement Senior Manager, Onalethata Dipatane, issued a Notice of the shortlisted companies (bidders) for the Technical evaluation of the procurement. BOL indicated that it intends to conduct a financial Opening and evaluation of the bidders after five working days.The three listed companies are CRBC/Mowana JV, which scored 72 per cent, Digital Sky/S&G Steel JV scored 77 per cent, and M&D/Trotech JV scored 85 per cent.According to documents seen by this publication, there was a misrepresentation of key evidence on “Stormer Bw” Digital Handle. "BOL’s claim that the handle “Stormer Bw” belongs to Mr Goran Jurisic of Vigosoft Engineers is demonstrably false.The “Stormer” alias has a direct and documented link to Mr Storme Williams, Senior Project Manager at Efficient Trotech, one of the bidders in this tender. The handle appears only in the re-tendered document—issued after the abrupt cancellation of the initial tender—coinciding with changes that advantaged Efficient Trotech.”A letter by the Managing Director of Modern UTS, Kgomotso Matlapeng, to the Permanent Secretary in the Minerals Ministry, Pelaelo Khowe, states that this anomaly is not speculative as PDF metadata from the re-tendered documents (time-stamped 12 April 2024, within 72 hours of cancellation) identifies edits from the user “Stormer Bw,” tied to an IP address allocated to Efficient Trotech (196.220.156.18). He revealed that the re-tender documents diluted the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) rules for non-citizen engineers (Sections 4.3–4.5) and deleted Botswana citizenship requirements (Section 4.6). On indicators of collusion and conflict of interest, Modern UTS stated that Vigosoft Engineers, throughMr Jurisic, co-prepared the bidding document with BOL, while maintaining proximity to one of the competing bidders.“Phase 1 of this project involved documented misconduct by the same individuals, including fraudulent claims exceeding P500,000 for non-existent accommodation, as reported to authorities.The timing of the re-tender and document changes—shortly after public condemnation of procurement bias by the President— suggests deliberate circumvention of fair bidding processes,” Matlapeng said.BOL has been accused of Non-Compliance with Procurement Transparency Obligations in that its refusal to release the original PDF tender files with metadata intact constitutes obstruction of justice under the procurement laws.It has been brought to the attention of the Permanent Secretary that there has been a breach of the law in regards to Penal Code, PPRA Regulations and Cybercrime and Computer-Related Crimes Act (Criminalisation of document tampering).“Section 105 of the Public Procurement Act provides for the review of procurement decisions deemed irregular or prejudicial. The dismissal of my complaint as “frivolous” is itself procedurally flawed because BOL has a vested interest in defending its own conduct, thereby invalidating its claim of impartiality,” he said.The ministry, PPRA and DCEC have been requested to, among others, suspend the tender process pending investigation and review compliance with the Citizen Economic Empowerment Policy (CEE) in the altered tender specifications.The company, in its letter to BOL dated 18th July 2025, argued that the tender documents have been altered in a manner that disproportionately accommodates Trotech’s qualifications, particularly in areas where they seem to have been previously non-compliant.Modern UTS argues: Unlawful Document Manipulation: The tracked changes in the tender document reveal that Trotech’s Senior Project Manager, Mr Storme, directly edited criticalrequirements; Removal of the mandatory requirement for Botswana Citizen Engineers, such as Site Agents/Engineers, replacing it with open eligibility for foreign nationals was an input from Trotech to meet compliance requirements.This is a collusion by BOL Agents and Trotech; Dilution of the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) requirement, rendering it non-essential despite its importance in prior evaluations; Adjustments to the Bill of Quantities (BOQ), which may unfairly advantage Trotech.According to the company, there is a Conflict of Interest and a lack of transparency by allowing a bidder to influence tender specifications, which it says constitutes a severe breach ofprocurement ethics and Botswana’s procurement laws.The alterations suggest preferential treatment and raise questions about the integrity of the process, Modern UTS said and demanded an immediate investigation into the tender document changes, including the role of Trotech personnel in drafting/modifying requirements.The company called for the suspension of the tender process pending review by an independent body such as PPRA. It also requested the disqualification of Trotech if evidence confirms their involvement in document manipulation and for transparency in the evaluation criteria and adherence to Botswana’s procurement laws, particularly regarding local participation.In response to Modern UTS, Tshekedi advised that Botswana Oil Limited treat such allegations with the utmost seriousness, and accordingly, an internal investigation was conductedto establish the merits of the allegations.He said the complaint was dismissed because the bidding document and its requirements were developed collaboratively by Botswana Oil Limited's team of engineers and procurement personnel, together with their appointed Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) Consultant, Vigosoft Engineers.According to Tshekedi, regarding the Engineers Registration Board (ERB) requirements, the bidding document complies with Regulation 3 of the ERB Regulations. He posited that the bidding document was prepared using the Standardised Bidding Packages (SBP) issued by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) and does not disadvantage any bidder.He contended that the Bill of Quantities accurately reflects the scope of work for the project and was finalised jointly by BOL and Vigosoft Engineers.“There was no collusion between Vigosoft Engineers and Efficient Trotech in the preparation of the bidding document as alleged. In accordance with Section 105 of the PublicProcurement Act, your complaint has been deemed frivolous, with the apparent intent to delay or frustrate the procurement process. BOL will determine the appropriate course of action in line with the provisions of the Act,” the BOL CEO said.Efforts to get a comment from the Permanent Secretary were futile at press time.

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Botswana Oil embroiled in corruption allegations