Sunday Standard investigations have turned up a clutch of letters revealing how Botswana ambassadors use dirty tricks to intimidate junior diplomats into sleeping with them.
In one revealing correspondence, Botswana Ambassador in Japan, Oscar Motswagae, advices Botswana’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Samuel Outlule, on what dirty tricks to use to intimidate a staff member into sleeping with him.
Says Motswagae in his advice: “That woman is there for the taking. She obviously has no morals. The minute the old man leaves, I am sure she will start looking for a replacement. I think the problem with you is you want to treat her like a lady. That was your mistake last time…… I think what you should do is to one day call her in and tell her that you have discovered bothlhabetsi mo Embasing involving a member of the local staff. I am sure she would immediately check with others to find out if they have also been called in. Imagine her trauma when she discovers that nobody else was called in. You can then let her stew for a month or two. I am sure she will then begin to realize that the old man is no longer the boss. All you have to do is to play your cards right.”
Another letter reveals how Ambassadors abuse their positions to get sexual favours from junior staff.
Further investigations revealed that sexual harassment is an epidemic in the Foreign Service and is even affecting Botswana’s diplomatic relations and the campaign to sell Botswana.
Sunday Standard can reveal that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is sitting on a sexual harassment complaint filed by South Africa against Botswana’s ambassador in Japan, Oscar Motswagae.
This was after a female consular at the South African embassy in Japan lodged a sexual harassment claim against Motswagae.
Investigations have also turned up information about a Japanese journalist who stopped doing publicity work for Botswana, claiming sexual harassment by the ambassador. This brings to four, the number of sexual harassment complaints filed against Motswagae after two Botswana female envoys complained to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Japanese government is also understood to have complained to the Botswana government about Motswagae’s attitude.
A number of high profile names linked to the Foreign Service sex scandal keep cropping up in the series of e-mail letters between Outlule and Motswagae and this may explain the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation’s reluctance to take action.
Further investigations have revealed information that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may have been lying when they claimed ignorance about the sexual harassment complaints.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Charles Ntwayagae, last week told The Sunday Standard that “there are always rumours flying around without any concrete evidence. You know that there will always be rumours and we can not act on rumours. All I can tell you is that no such cases have been officially reported to me.”
When Sunday Standard insisted that it is aware of at least two official complaints filed with the ministry against an ambassador and furnished the Permanent Secretary with the names of the female diplomats who had filed the complaints, Ntwayagae said, “Personally, I have not received any official complaint, but I can not say there are no such complaints. You have to understand that such complaints pass through various levels before they reach me. My senior colleagues would first explore the facts before passing on the cases to me. Maybe the cases you are referring to are still being investigated by my deputy or the Director of Ministry Management who, after establishing the facts, would then refer the cases to me for action. But I personally have not officially received any sexual harassment complaint. I am not saying there are no such cases, and I can assure you that if they are officially brought to me I would definitely take action.”
Sunday Standard investigations have turned up correspondence between Motswagae and Botswana’s permanent representative at the United Nations, Samuel Outlule, in which Motswagae made reference to “the scandal.”
Motswagae, who wanted to make sexual advances to another Motswana diplomat in Japan, was worried that the woman could be used to trap him and asked Outlule to conduct an investigation on his behalf.
