Botswana Railways wars get messy

The internal squabble engulfing Botswana Railways (BR) has now gone messy with the entity’s newly appointed Board of Directors, Management, and the Minister clashing over BR revitalisation Plan.The Board, which was appointed in May this year, has since been dissolved as things have got out of control.Insiders have revealed that at the centre of the polarised relations is the withholding of key information, misleading of the Board by some senior officials at the organisation, and alleged interference by the Office of the President (OP).Another key matter that has divided the leadership of the ailing organisation is the controversy surrounding a P30 million contract between BR and investor- Life Compass Botswana (Pty) Ltd.BR Acting General Manager, Baboloki Phuthego, wrote a termination letter to the Director of Life Compass Botswana arguing that, among others, the "contract" was signed by an official of BotswanaRailways who lacked authority to do so as she was not mandated nor properly authorised to sign the agreement.“Both the Board and Management of Botswana Railways find this contract to be unconscionable and unacceptably oppressive on the organisation, quite apart from it being illegal, null and void.That it lacks a normal non-breach-based exit clause speaks volumes about the bona fides of the officers who negotiated the agreement, ostensibly, on behalf of Botswana Railways,” Phuthego saidin a letter dated July 23rd, 2025.While there were claims that nothing was binding between the company and BR, email communications, exchanged letters, and confidential documents show that the two parties entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA).The Board discovered that a recent meeting had established that the legally binding and signed MoA was in place against the claims that only the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) existed.On Sunday, 10th August 2025, at 1800hrs, a meeting attended by all Board members, led by Plato Gaoboi, Board Chairman, was convened, at which several issues were raised.“After our appointment on 1st of May 2025, we became aware that the incumbent General Manager was suspended following the previous Board’s decision. The Board assigned the HR Committee to investigate this suspension.The findings were that the action was both procedurally and substantively unfair,” the Board said in a letter to the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Noah Salakae.The Board then decided to reinstate the then-suspended General Manager. The Board said the decision was stopped after the Minister told the Chairman the Ministry wouldn’t work with the suspended GM.To the Board, this was surprising as the Minister then went public to say he would not interfere with Board matters and that the decision not to reinstate the GM was entirely the Board’s.“Key to the Board’s strategic thinking was, amongst other things, to find credible private partners to capacitate BR, plug apparent revenue leaks which we suspected some may have been due to fraudulent activities.We went to pains to improve procurement processes, focus on increasing revenue generation initiatives, reduce maintenance backlog, improve safety, and staff welfare related issues, focus on servicing key customers, and bring about operational stability in the next six months geared towards achieving profitability,” the Board said.The Board stated that, on several occasions, BR Management—under the leadership of the then Acting General Manager—deliberately bypassed both the Board and the Ministry, opting instead to engage directly with the Office of the President.To their dismay, the Board was informed that the Office of the President recently held a meeting with the two suspended BR Managers while their suspension was still in effect.If true, this development raises serious concerns about adherence to principles of good corporate governance. According to the letter, it was during this meeting with the Minister that the decision to dissolve the Board was made.“Management led by the current suspended Acting General Manager routinely denied the Board information, provided incorrect information, or supplied critical information late.Board was initially informed that only an MoU existed between Life Compass and BR, when pressed further by Board members to produce a signed copy of the MoU, Management eventually produced a binding MoA, which they had earlier said had no cost implication, only to show that BR was liable for over P20 million under the agreement.”The Board has maintained that it will vacate office only if officially asked to do so in writing.According to a confidential document served to the ministry during a due diligence by Life Compass Botswana, several things surfaced, such as “one Director, Mr Ante Afame, was introduced as an American investor.Our findings showed us that he is actually a Nigerian traveling on two passports, one Nigerian passport and another an American passport. This then raised a red flag as the man is untraceable and could pose a danger to the country.”The findings further reveal a second issue: a false declaration in which he claimed to reside at Block 6, as stated in the company extracts, marking another red flag.“We then decided to allow CAMDAW GROUP- RELIANCE RAIL INTERNATIONAL to prove themselves, and they failed.As for Life Compass, after signing the contract, the first scope of services was completed and delivered to Botswana Railways on the 19th July 2025 as per the agreement.We have no clue whatsoever what Ms Goitseone Iran Mfaladi and Mr Ante Afame are talking about, hence we instructed our lawyers to act on our behalf, and we intend to act until the end”.Life Compass then, on 7th August 2025, through their lawyers Tengo Rubadiri Attorneys, issued a letter of demand to CAMDAW GROUP- RELIANCE RAIL INTERNATIONAL over defamation claims and wanted the Director to author an apology and retraction.According to an insider at the Office of the President, Life Compass, CAMDAW GROUP-RELIANCE INTERNATIONAL contract was signed in March 2025, and it was for six weeks unless extended.According to the Director of CAMDAW GROUP-RELIANCE RAIL INTERNATIONAL, the contract lapsed due to non-performance.Life Compass, which had introduced CAMDAW GROUP and RELIANCE RAIL INTERNATIONAL as its technical partners, had to ensure that the commitment by Life Compass to Botswana Railways does not fall off.A highly placed source within BR who is privy to the developments of the meeting that was held in Kasane on June 7th, 2025, regarding the contract revealed “the truth is that Life Compass is a JV partner with Reliance Rail International, Reliance Rail International then had a separate arrangement with CAMDAW GROUP.When it comes to CAMDAW GROUP- RELIANCE RAIL INTERNATIONAL, since it was only registered way after Life Compass' unsolicited bid, which dates as far back as December 2024, while CAMDAW GROUP- RELIANCE RAIL INTERNATIONAL was only registered on 24th February 2024, it would be nonsensical for anyone to assume anyone could hijack an infant company deal.Secondly, when CAMDAW GROUP was introduced, they were introduced as Investors.Life Compass Botswana raised serious concerns with the minister about the information discussed in the BR Board meetings being shared with the Media.The company highlighted in two letters seen by this publication, dated 24th and 28th July 2025, that such practices undermine good governance, as Board discussions are only known to the board until such time they are made public.According to insiders at BR, this could be one of the reasons why Minister Salakae dissolved the Board before things got worse.Life Compass Botswana lawyers, Jonas Attorney, wrote to the Acting General Manager, Baboloki Phuthego, over the termination of the contract entered into on 12 June 2025, for the provision of technical support services.According to Dr Obonye Jonas, representing the company and its Managing Director, Shadrack Baaitse, the contention by BR is that the impugned contract purports to derogate statutory duties to a third party, including those that relate to public safety.“In essence, the contract privatizes Botswana Railways unlawfully."This argument is spurious, lacks merit, and is fraught with insurmountable legal difficulties. The agreement is not usurping the powers of Botswana Railways under the Act in favour of our client.Our client stepped in to assist Botswana Railways to become a profitable business enterprise with limited financial dependency on the Government so that it can optimally perform its functions and duties,” Dr Jonas said.He told the BR Acting GM that Botswana Railways has continued to make operating losses due to, among others, huge infrastructure and backlog of rolling stock overhaul maintenance expenditure not matched by an increase in revenue. He said there is nothing that prohibits Botswana Railways from contracting in the manner it did.“Because Botswana Railways is practically decrepit and dysfunctional, naturally, Client's obligations to revive it will be extensive. But the extensiveness of our client's obligations does not mean that it has usurped the statutory rights and obligations of Botswana Railways as you put it.It simply means that more ought to be done by our client to give practical meaning to the business plan to achieve the intended lofty objective of resuscitating Botswana Railways,” Dr Jonas said.Phuthego acknowledged the letter and the proposed available mechanism to resolve the matter.According to communications seen by this publication, the company argued that the offer they submitted which was subsequently more than welcome by BR, Ministry and the board through the board chairman was for “us to recapitilize a cash strapped Botswana Railways by way of risking our resources, allow BR to operate profitably, assist in monitoring and marketing the operations and get paid back our return on investment over a period of time until our investment is fully paid."Life Compass Botswana argued that someone is pushing a narrative that they won a tender while on the contrary they are investing in BR in a capital bailout through a profit sharing model.“It is very disturbing that while parties are still busy resolving their dispute, the other party is busy leaking housekeeping issues to media, this trend has been ongoing as per our letters to the Minister, this then puts a question if indeed public assets are safe given the circumstances. This is not only unprofessional, but it shows a level of immaturity, unprofessional and more than anything lack ofethics,” one of the emails reads.Contacted for comment, Life Compass Managing Director, Shadrack Baatsi declined to comment on the matter at this stage saying it is sensitive and they are trying to resolve it amicably with the client.Pressed further, Baatsi who said he was getting into a meeting in South African said; “we dismiss claims that we are suing Botswana Railways, what is on record is that we dismissed and categorically dismissed Botswana Railways claims that the contract is illegal and terminated.”Minister Salakae could not be reached for comment as he was said to be preparing for the Botswana-Namibia Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC), which he will co-chair with Namibia’s Minister of Works and Transport, Veikko Nekundi.Board Chairman Gaoboi could not be reached as his mobile phone did not go through.

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Botswana Railways wars get messy