Massive corruption under normal circumstances of competitive tender processes and procedures has been the norm during the better part of this Republic. It becomes no strange occurrence for the massive corruption to become even more massive when the normal circumstances of competitive tender processes and procedures are waivered under the State of Public Emergency (SOPE). The recent reports on Covid-19 corruption began in earnest as soon as Covid-19 was declared a pandemic with the procurement of goods and services procured through the direct appointment of service providers. To rub salt in the wound, all Covid-19 procurement was moved to the Office of the President. With this office carrying the notoriety of carrying an albatross around its neck of ‘the factory of not only poor but bad governance practices’ as I opined last week, the adjudication of directly appointed service providers would inevitably be characterised by poor governance practices.
It has emerged unsurprisingly so, that some of the directly appointed service providers picked to supply Covid-19 goods and services are newly registered companies presumably established to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime windfall presented by the dire requirements of Covid-19 pandemic. A windfall in the sense that the world may not experience the same or similar pandemic in the near future after the current one where such opportunities could be presented. Some, if not all of these newbie companies wouldn’t have supplied any medical equipment of whatever nature to any medical facility let alone those Covid-19 specific. On this ground only, such companies would have been disqualified for lack of compelling track record as an added advantage and the fact that they are just newly established. Even under normal tendering adjudication I want to believe, they would have been disqualified on that ground. I will discuss this matter further in the conversation.
When the countrywide lockdown was announced early last year, a programme of providing food parcels to the less privileged members of the community was put in place by government. This was a good programme meant to cushion the less privileged members of the community from the harsh socio-economic circumstances they stood to undergo during the lockdown. It became apparent the programme was badly managed in terms of providing the said food parcels to the deserving people; that the deserving people missed provision; that at the end of the lockdown, a lot of food parcels remained unallocated with some having expired. In the midst of the food parcel mismanagement and absolute confusion, cases of politically connected individuals came to the fore with two Mayors directly involved. A lot of massive Covid-19 corruption had taken full advantage of the conducive situation presented by the pandemic and taken off with supersonic speed. To this day, a comprehensive audit of the food parcel programme is still outstanding and I dare say, such looks very unlikely to be conducted let alone made public. It is fair to say a lot of public funds was misappropriated with a big chunk going to the pockets of those politically well-connected individuals. The Covid-19 massive corruption has been acknowledged by the country’s political leadership including the then Coordinator of Covid-19 Food Relief Rre Gabriel Seeletso who was quoted by the media to have said ‘rampant claims of funds misuse revealed that food distribution has been tainted by crisis in many councils countrywide.’ The former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Administration Dr Temba Mmusi issued a directive wherein he said ‘Under the circumstances you are all advised to prepare the end of activity reports for phase 1 detailing how the process leading to the delivery of phase 1 were executed in your respective jurisdictions.’
Next in the line of massive Covid-19 corruption was the procurement of goods and services as alluded to above. Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recently, the Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) Rre Tymon Katlholo informed the PAC that his agency is investigating 27 Covid-19 related corruption. He is reported to have said ‘There is lot of secrecy surrounding Covid-19 procurement and this leaves the perceptions that corruption rose when it comes towards Covid-19 procurement dealings. So, it is the case that any good decision taken in secrecy is bad than any bad decision taken publicly’. For the DCEC to be investigating 27 Covid-19 corruption related cases tells the sad but orchestrated story of how serious Covid-19 corruption has taken root after the disease was declared a pandemic within one year of its emergence. As we are in the second year of the pandemic and with the direct procurement of related goods and services still in full swing, it should reason that massive Covid-19 corruption is equally in full swing ably aided and abetted by the SOPE.
Now that it was, or should have been anticipated by the powers that be that a massive Covid-19 corruption of sort would ensue consequent to the location of the procurement unit in the Office of the President, what preventative measures were put in place to deescalate the likely Covid-19 corruption? Are individuals overseeing the direct appointment of Covid-19 service providers ably qualified and capacitated to appoint such service provides without fear, favour or prejudice? If the answer is in the affirmative, I suppose it would be the case if the Office of the President was asked. The next pertinent question should be why did the massive Covid-19 corruption take place if all possible preventative measures were put in place? I will accept that given the unexpected emergence of the pandemic and the urgent need to deal with it, normal processes and procedures to procure goods and services were unavoidable. But the uppermost consideration would expectedly be: given the high levels of corruption in the country pre the advent of Covid-19 pandemic, how would administrative lapses likely result in Covid-19 corruption eliminated?
These questions have already been answered in the above paragraphs with respect to the likely involvement of politically exposed persons in the procurement of Covid-19 goods and services; their likely close proximity to companies appointed to procure Covid-19 goods and services; such persons taking full advantage of conditions created by SOPE and, Office of the President being the factory of not only poor but bad governance practices. Further to this, public servants who may not necessarily be politically exposed persons but themselves have business interests in the entire value chain owing to the bizarre situation created for public servants to do business with government. A combination of these have undoubtedly created a conducive ground for the manner in which massive Covid-19 corruption has gripped the country and continues to do so.
By the time Covid-19 pandemic would have ended and SOPE lifted, the levels of Covd-19 corruption (let alone other forms of corruption) would have wreaked so much havoc that the present generation may not be able to undo. This because the little said and done about fighting corruption is manifestly outweighed by the continued entrenchment of corruption in all spheres of Botswana’s socio-economic landscape particularly by politically exposed persons. I am prepared to be persuaded otherwise as always.
‘No one is safe until everyone is safe’ Let us religiously adhere to all Covid-19 safety measures by properly wearing our masks, frequently washing our hands with water and soap or sanitising and keeping social distance from one another.
