Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) CEO, David Tsheboeng, recently launched a scathing attack against BMC Board Chairman, Boyce Mohutsiwa, following his suspension.
Tsheboeng accused his boss of corruption and defying the Minister of Entrepreneurship Karabo Gare. The accusations came in the form of a founding affidavit following an urgent application before the Gaborone High Court challenging his suspension by the Board Chairman.
In the affidavit, Tsheboeng asserted that his appointment as the CEO of BMC was made by Minister Gare on May 20, 2023. However, on June 16, he received a suspension letter from Board Chairman Mohutsiwa, which also prohibited him from accessing BMC premises and instructed him to hand over all BMC properties in his possession.
Minister Gare wrote a letter on June 22, 2023, following the “unilateral” decision by the chairman, denouncing the suspension as unlawful and having no force and effect.
Despite the Minister’s intervention, Tsheboeng said Mohutsiwa maintained his unlawful stance and even deployed BMC security to arrest and escort him out of the premises if he were to report for duty. Faced with this situation, Tsheboeng sought recourse before Justice Gabriel Komboni.
Tsheboeng challenged the validity of his suspension, citing Clause 20 of the BMC Disciplinary Code and Procedures, 2016, which allows suspension only in cases of serious misconduct pending investigation or disciplinary inquiry. He said the suspension was unfair and lacked prospects of reaching a disciplinary hearing since he had not engaged in any wrongdoing deserving disciplinary action.
According to Tsheboeng, Mohutsiwa’s decision to suspend him stemmed from alleged unauthorized contracts with meat distributors. However, the CEO argued that throughout his tenure, BMC management had emphasized the need for such contracts, even identifying the lack of contracts as an anomaly. He claimed to have drafted a standard agreement, which was reviewed by a commercial lawyer appointed by BMC and shared with Mohutsiwa and the Board. Tsheboeng asserted that the agreement was ready to be used and had been shared with key distributors.
He further alleged that Mohutsiwa colluded with Beefnor, a Norwegian company, and Retail Meat Botswana (RMB), a consultant engaged by Mohutsiwa, to remove him from his position to continue exploiting BMC financially.
“In 2023, I had an interaction with the Board of BMC where I apprised it of the fact that BMC has started entering distribution agreements with distributors on the basis of the standard agreement as previously discussed but that certain distributors were opposed to some of the terms of the standard contract, in particular, the requirement that the distributors must pay a 30% down payment upon invoice, i.e., when the containers containing meat leave BMC abattoir at Lobatse Township and payment of the balance of 70% upon issuance of the bills of laden in Cape Town, South Africa, and containers headed to their destinations are loaded into vessels.”
Tsheboeng said some of the companies that were resisting the adopted contract were Beefnor, which he said came strongly recommended by the Chairman, and consultant RMB – who he said were also engaged by Mohutsiwa to advise BMC on meat market intelligence, price movements, and help BMC to identify more lucrative markets for our beef products and help to sell our products.
“Mohutsiwa’s intention is to maintain unregulated and unethical business practices, benefiting his friends’ companies and himself through kickbacks… he has created a toxic working environment, resorting to vulgar language and exhibiting bullying behavior,” Tsheboeng said. Mohutsiwa disrespects him and utters derogatory remarks, creating a hostile working environment that constitutes constructive dismissal.
Tsheboeng emphasized the importance of urgency in the application, saying BMC was in a critical stage of its turnaround strategy, and as such, leadership instability could jeopardize profitability and commercialization efforts. “The suspension also affects BMC’s statutory audit and poses reputational risks for me,” he wrote in his affidavit. Furthermore, he expressed concerns about Mohutsiwa’s potential corruption and its impact on the public purse.
In conclusion, Tsheboeng sought the court’s intervention to declare the suspension invalid, arguing that Mohutsiwa exceeded his powers as Board Chairman. He urged the court to consider the urgency of the matter and the potential damage to BMC’s operations, the public purse, and his professional reputation.
After evaluating the allegations made by the CEO and determining the validity of his suspension, Justice Komboni found that the matter deserved to be treated as urgent before ordering that the suspension be lifted.
