A war for the control of the Botswana National Youth Council has erupted, hardly a week after reports that BNYC Board Chairperson, Elius Rantleru, and his right hand man, Chomi Letlole, had short listed a few names for transfer without the knowledge of the board.
There are now allusions to legal challenges and Elius Rantleru has hit back saying no one was going to force the BNYC board to hire a handpicked Executive Director other than those who applied for the post.
In an interview with the Sunday Standard Rantleru dismissed allegations that the same board members had short listed some candidates.
“Those are lies, we have not short listed anyone as yet,” he said. “The letters go through the board secretary and just because the managing director was not there when we registered the applications doesn’t mean we short listed anyone.”
Rantleru continued, “We have not hired and we currently have over 80 people who have applied and there is no one who is going to push on us who to hire as all we want to do at best is to follow the procedures.”
He added that allegations that BNYC financial records were in a mess were all false as the council had a financial manager who had been working for the council for the past 4 years and not for a few months, as reports alleged.
An insider, who preferred not to reveal his identity, said that the internal fighting between management and the board was due to the influence of partisan politics and also because of the management’s attitude towards Rantleru, who is viewed as uneducated.
Asked about his educational background, Rantleru said that not having a university degree was not a problem. He said that the attitude he got from management was not a threat and, instead, he boasted that nothing would take away his influence.
“My education and interaction with management is a challenge and as long as I am around, no one is going to hand pick or push me to accept a candidate who does not meet the standard requirements.”
