This week the Board of Directors at the Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) made an announcement that a team of specialized forensic experts will immediately start an audit on the allegations of ethical impropriety on the part of senior management at the state owned company.
A report is expected some time next month.
Specifically, the auditors are expected to investigate allegations that some executives at BEDIA have been stealing business ideas of promoters and adopting them as their own.
Forensic auditors are also expected to sift through allegations that some executives at BEDIA have made a habit out of coercing foreign investors to take on board as partners their relatives, spouses and friends.
True or not, these are damning allegations for an institution like BEDIA whose reputation, especially on issues of corporate Governance, integrity and credibility, should be irreproachable.
It is difficult to see how the allegations could have been satisfactorily handled other than gong the route of hiring a team of external investigators as adopted by the BEDIA Board of Directors.
Fighting impunity is a major challenge many of the companies and parastatals into which Botswana Government is a shareholder.
Obviously, by calling in investigators, the BEDIA Board knew very well what was at stake.
It has been a brave decision against what has no doubt been a very consuming and difficult moment for the organization.
For that we want to applaud the entire BEDIA Board.
We want to point out that BEDIA Board would obviously not have taken such drastic decision without advice from their executive team as well as political direction from the ministry from where sits the direct representatives of the shareholder.
While to our knowledge no specific allegation has been made with particular reference to BEDIA Chief Executive, Jacob Nkate, we also want to applaud him for having made no resistance to the audit.
Still relatively new in the position, it surely must have been somewhat unsettling to have to grapple with such sensitive and potentially explosive allegations.
As everybody knows as a former minister and not so long ago a Secretary General of the ruling political party, Nkate is a very political figure who retains close ties not only with the BDP but also with President Ian Khama.
To our knowledge and to his credit, Nkate has not sought to scuttle the audit by nudging on the President to scuttle the investigation proposed by the Board.
It is our hope that until then, Nkate will personally cooperate with the audit and also ensure that his aides do the same.
BEDIA has to clear its name. It is in BEDIA’s interest and it also is in his as CEO.
We need not emphasise that given its mandate, which is mainly to help Botswana develop an export-driven economy through soliciting flagship foreign investors into the country, the biggest stock in trade that BEDIA has at its disposal is integrity, especially among its executives.
The nation and the investors we seek to lure at great cost to the nation and private businesses in Botswana have to have faith in the people they are dealing with at BEDIA.
Once there exists any shadows of doubt on the integrity of BEDIA then the entire edifice collapses.
And when that happens as a nation we may as will forget about ever attracting credible foreign investors into the country.
We also want to recognize the leadership of Morago Ngidi, the BEDIA Board Chairperson, who finds himself having to be the captain of the ship during these difficult and turbulent times.
That Ngidi has publicly made it clear that Board members (present and/or past) will also be investigated if there is any reason to suspect they were involved in acts of impropriety as alleged is reassuring to say the least.
Last but not least, we want to recognize those BEDIA stakeholders who have taken a difficult and potentially risky decision to go public.
It is as a result of these whistle blowers that a decision has been taken to kick-start a process which we hope will ultimately cleanse BEDIA.
Whistle blowing against a powerful institution like BEDIA is never easy.
It is our hope and ardent belief that by the time the audit is done, BEDIA will become a stronger and more credible organization, enjoying unreserved and unconditional support and faith from all stakeholders ÔÇô local and international.
