Former President Lt Gen Ian Khama, former Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) Director General Isaac Kgosi and DIS Finance Director Sehunelo Khunou were yesterday ( Saturday) raided by security agents in search of missing DIS firearms. Saturday morning a contingent of security agents descended upon Kgosi’s residence in Phakalane estates before proceeding to search Khama’s official residence in Extension 5.
This followed a search warrant issued to the DIS, Botswana Police Service (BPS) and Botswana Defence Force (BDF) against the trio by High Court Judge Chris Gabanagae on Thursday 21st October. Justice Gabanagae stated that, “I am satisfied that the affidavit and other recorded testimony establishes reasonable grounds upon which to believe that the arms above listed have been concealed on the premises above described and further establish grounds for the issuance of this warrant.”
The secret order which was granted ex parte or behind closed doors, in order to protect classified national security information, was based on secret information about the potential security threat posed by the trio.
DIS director General Peter Magosi has been on the trail of DIS “missing” arms since 2018. Magosi has in the past complained that the secret service under Kgosi did not keep an inventory of its arms and spy equipment and it was difficult to determine how many rifles had been procured and where they might be.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 2018, Magosi said . “Our main challenge is surveillance equipment and weapons of war procured outside the country and the only solution is to go to the companies where they were procured and ask how many were procured from them,” he told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in 2018 that trying to trace the DIS rifles and spy equipment was a difficult undertaking. “Our main challenge is surveillance equipment and weapons of war procured outside the country and the only solution is to go to the companies where they were procured and ask how many were procured from them,” he told the PAC.
Sunday Standard investigations have revealed that the raid against Khama and Kgosi follows a marathon investigation by the DIS during which officers from Kgosi’s preferred clearing agents, Zebra Shipping were raided and detained. The arrest of Zebra Shipping officials last month sparked a chain reaction of DIS senior and junior officers’ arrests, among them Khunou.
Sources close to the investigations told the Sunday Standard that when the DIS conducted an audit of its inventory and interviewed a number of arms suppliers it discovered that some firearms which were imported by the spy outfit were never delivered to the DIS armory. An investigation into Zebra shipping which was commissioned by the former DIS Director General to clear the imported arms revealed that the arms arrived into the country but never made it to the DIS armoury. It is understood that documents seized from Zebra Shipping and obtained from DIS arms suppliers were used to obtain the search warrant from the High Court.
A corruption case docket referenced DOC/IF/ 2011/001166 against Isaac Kgosi compiled by the then Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) Chief Investigator Don Mackenzie revealed that Kgosi used Zebra Shipping for customs clearance of DISS imports as well as his personal imports. He used the customs clearing company when he imported his BMW 5 Series from the United States and when he imported his personal rifle and its magazine.
This is the second search warrant issued against Kgosi in two years, In 2019 the DIS carried out a number of raids against Kgosi and a number of businesses connected to him. This was after Kgosi threatened to topple the government. In an affidavit he deposed before being granted the search warrant, DIS Director General Peter Magosi indicated that he treated Kgosi’s threat to topple the government seriously.
Other properties raided include Plot 1222-KO in Extension 9 Gaborone registered under Isaac Kgosi, Portion 83 of Sentlhane Farms in Mmokolodi registered under Isaac Kgosi A farm in Maboane in the Kweneng District registered under Isaac Kgosi Plot 32382 in Phakalane registered under Matlho Kgosi, and Plot 61299 in the Gaborone Administrative District registered under Matlho Kgosi.
