A war of words has broken out between Gaborone Mayor Haskins Nkayigwa and Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) Secretary General Mpho Balopi, with the two political heavyweights exchanging insults in public and threatening to tell all about the other’s corrupt practices. The stage for the epic clash was set last week when Nkayigwa accused Balopi of corruption, saying the ruling party Secretary General ignored a moratorium on erection of billboards set by the Gaborone City Council (GCC) and has been erecting billboards with impunity while his competitors were not allowed to do the same.
Nkayigwa also revealed that he long reported the matter to the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) as far back as 2012, but to date the corruption watchdog has done nothing to bring Balopi to book. This week Balopi hit back with scathing allegations against Nkayigwa, saying the BMD parliamentary candidate for Gaborone North was engaged in dirty dealings with a South African company. Balopi labelled Nkaigwa as a sell out and a man who has been involved in under-the-table dealings with a South African company called Primedia, which competes in the advertising space with Balopi’s own Native Impressions. Balopi claims to have a well stacked dossier implicating Nkayigwa in dirty deals.
“I have proof; I have a remittance slip from FNB. In this remittance advice slip Nkayigwa appears as the recipient of P30 000 from Primedia. I had another e-mail that I mistakenly deleted and I am still waiting for someone to send it to me again. In this e-mail, the Primedia representative in Botswana, Fatima Whittaker, inquires from the Primedia headquarters in South Africa whether they have paid the Mayor as agreed,” said Balopi. He further revealed that Nkayigwa, together with a now retired City Clerk, held a clandestine meeting with representative of Primedia at the GCC offices. He accused Nkayigwa of reneging on an earlier agreement that the billboard advertising industry should be localised to allow citizen owned companies to thrive.
“We long agreed that this industry should be localised, but Nkayigwa hit a u-turn. Ask him why he reneged on our initial agreement. The answer lies with the remittance advice slip. This is the advice slip that you receive after money has been transferred to you. I have the proof,” he said. Asked where he got the information, Balopi revealed that he was informed by a former Chief Executive Officer who had a fight with Primedia. He further revealed that at some point he rebuffed overtures from Primedia who wanted to partner with him when they realised that he was pushing for localisation of the advertising industry.
“I refused and made it clear that i was advocating for Batswana,” he said. Contacted for comment, Nkayigwa insisted that he was clean and challenged Balopi to go to the authorities with his proof. He however admitted that he did have a meeting with representatives of Primedia. “Yes I did have a meeting with representatives of Primedia. They wanted to know why they were not allowed to erect billboards while Balopi was doing the same,” he said. He added that he represents the interests of the people of Gaborone and cannot do anything without the endorsement of the full council. He dismissed Balopi’s claims that he is erecting billboards in private land because he has arrangements with the owners of the land, saying Balopi knows very well that all forms of advertising are regulated by the council.
“The fact is Balopi is above the laws of this country. He does what he wants and even the DCEC couldn’t do anything to him,” he said. Responding to allegations that he reneged on an earlier agreement to localise the billboard advertising industry, Balopi said the council never resolved to do that. He said he personally advocated for localisation, but the city council felt that it would not be right to shut out foreign investors.
“The council’s position was that it is important to accommodate these investors because they spend millions on their investments,” he said. Nkaigwa vowed to fight until Balopi is made to tow the GCC line, saying he will never entertain a situation where players in the same industry are not treated equally. Primedia Managing Director, Fatima Whittaker, refused to comment on allegations made by Balopi.
