Botswana Railways corruption rot exposed

A highly-charged tension has erupted between the newly appointed Botswana Railways (BR) Board and the Executive Management (ExCo) over the running of affairs at the troubled parastatal.Botswana Guardian has established that since the new board led by Plato Gaoboi took office, it has taken some drastic decisions that have unsettled the top management.At its meeting of the 17th June 2025, the Board decided that all existing and prospective internal projects must be subjected to review by the Finance Committee.According to the minutes of the Board meeting prepared by Vice Board Chairperson Kgomotso Hargraves, as seen by this publication, this initiative aims to ensure that each project is evaluated for its potential value and alignment with the organisation’s strategic objectives.The Board’s resolutions have allegedly rubbed the Executive Management the wrong way as they blame them for paralysing the parastatal’s operations.The Executive argues that the Board does not wield such powers as even the BR Act is clear that the Executive Management does not need approval from the Board, but can only note any decision taken by the Management.The Board, on the other hand, argues that such a loophole is the one that has resulted in Botswana Railways being in the current mess it finds itself in. There have been claims and reports of uncontrollable deep-rooted corruption at the loss-making organisation for years.The Board has vowed to root out corruption at the organisation, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. The Board resolved to meet Minister Noah Salakae and collaborate on resuscitating Botswana Railways.The Board has made some changes in the running of the BR affairs. Some of the changes affect international travels by the BR staff which will now require approval from the Finance Committee, while Board travel will be contingent upon prior approval from the Minister.What broke the camel’s back was when the Board resolved that “the management must submit to the Board a detailed list of all transactions exceeding P1 million and that all transactions of this nature shall be suspended, pending review and approval by the Board. That management must provide a comprehensive status update on the Botswana Railways Employees' Pension Fund.”The Human Resource Committee has been mandated to investigate the circumstances surrounding the suspension of the substantive General Manager and report its findings and recommendations to the Board.The Human Resource and Finance Committees have been tasked to engage an external consultancy firm to recruit a General Manager."In the interim, it was proposed that a Board member be identified to either assume the role of acting GM/CEO or to partner with the current GM to provide oversight.The HR and Finance Committees are also tasked with this matter and must present their choice,” the minutes read in part.The decision to nominate a member of the Board is said to have also not been received well by the Executive Management, since there is an Acting General Manager.The Board Chairperson, suspended General Manager Conductor Masena, and Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Noah Salakae, met recently to agree on an amicable separation. Masena is said to have declined to return to work due to the toxic environment at the head office.This is after the Board, during its Special Meeting held on the 4th June 2025, resolved that the previous Board’s decision to suspend Masena on 30th January 2025 was both substantively and procedurally wrongful and/or unfair and that it be, and is hereby, reversed and set aside.The Board directed that Masena be reinstated with immediate effect.Currently, Chelesile Malele is the Acting General Manager following the suspension of Masena. The golden handshake will see Masena bought out of his contract, which is due to expire on the 30th November 2026.Masena was appointed General Manager by former Minister of Transport and Public Works Eric Molale on the 30th November 2023.The appointment did not sit well with the past Board led by Mmoloki Ramaeba, which argued that it did not have their input.Documents show that Masena’s scorecard was 35 percent during the first six (6) months of his probation, and after an extension of three (3) months, it dropped to 25 percent.The Board would later take time to act on this, which resulted in them forgoing their right to fire him. It then decided to put him on suspension.While Masena and the Board agreed to an amicable exit, the Botswana Railways Workers Union contends that he is the man for the job and has approached President Advocate Duma Boko to intervene.The President has since referred the matter to Minister Salakae to deal with it. Botswana Railways is one of the parastatals falling under Boko’s key priorities for revamping to return to profitability.Ramaeba’s Board, even though it was also marred by controversy, managed to reduce Botswana Railways’ losses from P100 million to P17 million. Botswana Railways' audited books of accounts were last done five years ago.Board Chairman Gaoboi could not be drawn into discussing the matter, arguing that all issues raised are internal and will only be shared with the media or any third party at the right time and proper channels.

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Botswana Railways corruption rot exposed