Central Transport Organisation (CTO) former General Manager, Lieutenant Colonel Moakofi Modisenyane, was recently forced to apologise to a Permanent Secretary for allegedly placing him under surveillance.
Sunday Standard investigations have raised information that former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources (MMEWAR), Gabaake Gabaake, was put under surveillance by the CTO in what is believed to have been a Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) operation.
Both DIS director, Isaac Kgosi, and Modisenyane are former army officers, and the latest revelations have stocked speculations that appointments of former army officers to strategic positions in government was calculated to enable operations only known to certain powerful individuals at the top.
Sunday Standard has turned up pictures showing Gabaake’s official government vehicle with his driver in 2008, picking the PS’s child from one Primary School in Gaborone. The pictures were allegedly shot on Modisenyane’s instructions.
Modisenyane, who was then CTO General Manager, has since been elevated to the position of Deputy Permanent Secretary.
Gabaake initially declined to say whether the allegations were true, but on viewing the “exhibits” of the act, he confirmed that indeed some two years ago, he was almost devastated when he was given the pictures by his driver, who was equally scared.
He also pointed out that since an apology was rendered, he didn’t see any more need to drag the issue any further.
“Please note that after my track record of serving the nation with diligence and selflessness, for the length of time that I did, and given the environment I was working in, it would certainly be unfair of me to accuse anyone of having plotted my retirement,” said Gabaake.
However, Gabaake was reluctant to delve into the details of what happened, except to say, “This has had enough impact on my family, would you please kindly spare my family and especially my child, because she is never really gotten over with it, so just don’t…”
Modisenyane denied in an interview that he ordered any such surveillance. Although he also denied taking or ordering any photographs, he admitted that the pictured school was one of the places targeted by inspectors from the CTO.
“However, this was a routine inspection prompted by reports that there were some government vehicles seen in certain places, presumably being abused, and it was only coincidental that in this particular incident it was found to be Mr. Gabaake’s vehicle,” explained Modisenyane.
He said the inspectors then let the driver of the vehicle leave upon realizing it was Gabaake’s on account of his level of responsibility.
“Besides, I must make it clear that there was no way I would have ordered the surveillance of such a most senior person in relation to my own ranking in government.”
The Former GM’s denial notwithstanding, Sunday Standard investigations have unearthed an apology letter filed with MMEWAR and directed specifically to Gabaake, written personally by Modisenyane for having kept the former PS under the radar.
Modisenyane acknowledged that he apologized. He said in an interview that he was called and instructed by his then boss, PS in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Kago Moshashane, to write the letter of apology, after Gabaake lodged the complaint.
On whether they may have been a parallel operation targeting Gabaake, which may have yielded the pictures, which he denied any association with, Modisenyane said he wouldn’t know. The former army officer has also refuted any link to the DIS.
“I am no longer serving in the army nor do I take instructions from any security service, including the DIS. Not even in this particular incident or any time in the past have I acted alongside anybody to spy on Mr. Gabaake,” said Modisenyane.
