Minister wants Pula Consultants reported for fraud

Minister of Water and Human Settlement, Onneetse Ramogapi, has allegedly advised that Pula Consultants be reported to investigative law enforcement agencies for fraud.This comes after the company's 'dirty deals' were laid bare by this publication. Pula Consultants has been engaged in an elaborate scheme that has been defrauding the government using personnel who were rejected as non-qualified.Although the Director of Technical Services Kaboyamodimo Raitoko, thinks the actions of the company are not tantamount to fraud, Ramogapi advised him to leave that to the relevant authorities."Ramogapi told the Director to report the issue to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), and the ongoing Forensic Audit.Despite the Minister’s advice, the Director put up a spirited defence for Pula Consultants, saying they did not intend to defraud the Ministry.“The Director could not say why he was certain that they did not intend to steal from the Ministry since he is not part of that company," a source close to the matter said.It is said the Minister told Raitoko that claiming for someone who does not meet the requirements is not an oversight but plain fraud, and that Raitoko must compile a report of what he had done about the issue.It is alleged that Raitoko told the Minister that the company has agreed to refund the taxpayer P250,000 a month until the whole P1,162,000.00 that the company claimed unfairly is paid in full.A criminal attorney explained defrauding as to intentionally giving false information with the intended purpose of deriving an economic benefit that is not due to oneself."The Invitation To Tender (ITT) was clear on requirements for certain employees for them to be claimable under the consultancy contract. Claims were made despite the officers not meeting the said requirements.“An oversight would be where only one invoice was issued, not where two were issued, and multiple months, for that matter. How did it pass the scrutiny of the consultant and the client for so long?" the attorney asked.It is alleged that Raitoko and his subordinates intend to defy Ramogapi by not reporting the issue to the relevant authorities for investigation.When reached for a comment, the portfolio minister played the cards close to his chest. “The matter between a contractor and client is confidential. Same as employer and employee. As a minister, I don't have any direct dealings with contractors,” Ramogapi said. Pula Consultants, who were awarded the Mmankgodi-Tloaneng-Gabane Link Road tender for direct procurement of engineering design services, have been claiming for staffing personnel who were non-compliant. So far, about P1,162,000.00 have been paid to the consultant, who is yet to refund the government. The fraudulent activities committed by Pula Consultants are contained in a letter signed by Raikobo dated June 13, 2025, which is said to have been backdated, addressed to the Director of Pula Consultants, Carthage Matlhaga, in respect of Tender Reference No. POU/MLWA/PMO/Direct Procurement of Engineering Design Services For Mmankgodi-Tloaneng-Gabane Link Road/0205/21052024.Apparently, this was in reference to Pula Consultants Director Carthage Matlhaga's correspondence dated June 2, 2025, and the meeting held between the employer, the Ministry of Water and Human Settlement, and Matlhaga on the same date."The employer has noted that four of your staff members have been inadvertently included in your current Tax Invoice Certificate No.12," Raitoko wrote.Raitoko said Agang Raphapha was proposed as a replacement by Pula Consultants to the employer on November 11, 2024. The employer was then informed on February 6, 2025, that Raphapha had resigned with immediate effect."Your office then proposed Mr Boitshwarelo Nkile as a replacement Quantity Surveyor/Measurement Engineer. The employer reviewed your submission and subsequently responded on the 19th March with a letter Ref DTS 11/4/63 II (46) stating that the proposed replacement does not meet the contract requirements.The employer has noted that, despite this non-compliance, the consultant has claimed the remuneration amounts for the Quantity Surveyor/Measurement Engineer (Mr B. Nkile) for four monthstotaling P520,000.00.Raitoko then listed four tax invoice certificates, No. 09 from February 2025 with the amount of P130,000.00 until tax invoice certificate No. 12 of May 2025. Each of the four tax invoice certificates costs P130,000.00."On the 12th March 2025, the employer was informed by your office, by letter of Ref PC/99191/DTS/gk/040-2025, that Mr Tlhabanelo Mapulane, the Soils/Materials Engineer, has resigned and was serving one month's notice effective from 1st March 2025 to 31st March 2025.Your office then proposed Mr Tefo Kgabo as a replacement Soils/Materials Engineer. The employer reviewed your submission and subsequently responded on the 19th March 2025, with a letter of Red DTS 11/4/63 II (46), that the proposed replacement does not meet the contract requirements," Raitoko said.Despite this non-compliance, the employer has, however, noted that the consultant has claimed the remuneration amounts for Soils/Materials Engineer (Kgabo) for the months of April and May totaling P280,000.00.In another correspondence submitted by Matlhaga on March 12, 2025, the Department of Technical Services was informed that Tefo Kgabo is on a months contract as a project planner ending on April 30, 2025."The employer has noted that the consultant has claimed the remuneration amounts from the Project Planner (Mr T. Kgabo) for the month of May for the amount P125,000.00."During the June 2, 2025, meeting, the employer was informed that the Surveyor David Kealeboga had been missing since March 2025."The employer notes that your office continued to bill for this service for the months of March, April, and May totalling P237, 000.00," Raitoko said. Each invoice certificate from No. 10 of March, amounting to P79,000.00, until the last tax invoice certificate No. 12 of May 2025, was tabulated in the correspondence.It is alleged that despite the company claiming for Kealeboga, he was not paid any Thebe for the months he was missing. Kealeboga was featured on the Botswana Police Service (BPS) Facebook page as the missing person.He did not respond to this publication's questions. Another allegation is that the names submitted by the company during the ITT appear nowhere in the company's payroll.Raitoko further highlighted that the aforementioned personnel are resourced (rent, utilities, etc.) by the project through the construction contract."Despite the consultants’ non-compliance, the employer is incurring monthly costs for resourcing these personnel. The employer would like to caution your office that the employer intends to recover these incurred costs from Pula Consultants (PTY) Ltd."Interestingly, in his response to the Botswana Guardian questionnaire, Raitoko did not see the actions of Pula Consultants as fraud, and he even understated the amount paid to the consultant."I am aware that the consultant did put up a claim for staff that he used at the site, however, it will be misleading to state that staff were non-existent. I would like to state that the consultant submitted staff that was compliant with the Tender Document, and in the process, they left work for greener pastures.Then the consultant proposed replacement staff in line with the set procedure. I should hasten to state that the proposed staff did not meet the requirements of the 'ITT' and a recommendation for rejection was forwarded to the Ministry for adjudication.Meanwhile, the consultant was contractually notified in writing that his proposed staff does not meet the specification and has been forwarded to the Accounting Officer for decision making. While still waiting for a response, the consultant used his proposed replacement staff supported from head office," Raitoko said.Asked about how much had been misappropriated from this project, he said he did not agree that there was misappropriation since action was taken immediately."I became aware that the interim payment certificate was claiming for staff that was not approved. I should state that the consultant claimed for a couple of months since there were difficulties with regard to the transfer of funds from the Ministry of Infrastructure to the Ministry of Water and Human Settlement. The amount involved cumulatively amounts to P688,000.00."In my view, I do not consider this to be fraud, especially that when I became aware, I right away notified the consultant in writing that the payment will be recovered in their next payment certificate.Since this is an interim payment, it is always corrected in the next IPC, of which the consultant has been notified accordingly that he should reimburse the government accordingly."He denied that he turned a blind eye to the events as alleged, saying the moment he became aware, he immediately issued the consultant with notice as per the contract to recover the due amount."The consultant is expected to reimburse the Government without fail in the next payment certificate since the project is still ongoing."He added that as part of contract management, immediately he recognised the overpayment, he informed the affected party of his observation and caused him to regularise the anomaly."The matter had not yet reached the level that needs escalation because I need to act as per the contract and escalate if the matter is beyond my control."He denied any involvement in any fraudulent activities.

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Minister wants Pula Consultants reported for fraud