The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has been reluctant to comment on whether it will call former Botswana Premier League (BPL) Board chairman Walter Kgabung and Vice Chairman Solomon Mantswe for a hearing pertaining to the ongoing saga surrounding the forensic audit report.
While suspended BPL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bennett Mamelodi gets roasted on the coals, his former superiors, Kgabung and Mantswe are yet to hear from the BFA.
This is despite the two having been signatories to a number of transactions which have come under scrutiny in the said forensic audit.
The omission of the two, who authorised and signed for transactions made by the BPL CEO, has raised eyebrows, with some questioning on whether the BFA is frying the small fish at the expense of the bigger one.
“I am not at liberty to discuss anything relating to the forensic audit as this is still an internal matter. We respect all concerned parties in the matter and we cannot discuss the nitty-gritties on the matter,” BFA spokesperson Tumo Mpatane said.
While the BFA is cagey on whether Kgabung or Mantswe will be hauled before the BFA DC to answer for the alleged misappropriation of funds which happened under their watch, some strong allegations have surfaced that they may be subpoenaed by the Mamelodi defence team to give evidence when the matter goes before the High Court.
According to sources, while Mamelodi is being grilled alone, the paper trail on the BPL transactions points to the fact that it was the BPL Board, through its chairman who signed for the transactions.
Reached for comment, Mantswe, who is currently serving as the BPL board vice chairman, affirmed that he was never called to answer nor even to give evidence during the investigation.
“You must remember that when we were recalled, it was supposedly to give way for the forensic audit into suspected maladministration which happened under our watch,” Mantswe explained.
“However, we were never called by the forensic investigators to give evidence,” he said.
The VP Chairman confirmed that as Mamelodi’s superiors at the time, it was them who, representing the board, authorised for some of the transactions under scrutiny.
“We were acting on behalf of the BPL Board when we authorised the BPL secretariat to carry out such transactions. We were never called or even asked to explain by the auditors,” Mantswe said.
Mantswe however was reluctant to comment on the findings of the Audit report. According to the BPL Vice Chairman, he is not privy to the contents of the report nor does he know its scope.
While attempts to reach Kgabung failed, it has been revealed that he was not interviewed by investigators despite him being a signatory to many of the transactions under scrutiny.
