As part of the industry’s corporate culture of regulatory compliance, the newly appointed board members of Letshego Holdings are set to be subjected to vetting by the Non-Banking Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (NBFIRA).
Letshego last week held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) where amongst other things a new board of directors was put in place following departure by the some of the directors in the old board.
The new board is now led by Philip Odera who was elevated to the position a few days before the AGM. Odera had served in the previous board since 2019. Other new board members include Rose Mwaura, Ketlhalefile Motshegwa, Christopher Mokgware, Professor Emmanuel Botlhale and Jayaraman Ramesh. Other nominees who did not make the cut include Wilfred Mpai, Maleho Mothibatsela, Oteng Sebonego, and Boitumelo Molefe.
On the eve of the AGM, the BSE quoted group confirmed the departure of its former board chairperson – Enos Banda and two non-executive directors – Dr Gloria Somolekae and Hannington Karuhunga.
Banda has been Letshego board chairman for the past five years while Dr Somolekae joined the board in 2016 and chaired the Group Remuneration Committee of the Board. Karuhunga on the other hand has been a non-executive director since 2013 and chaired the Group Strategy & Investment Committee.
Apart from the departure of the trio, the group has also confirmed that it has terminated the employment of its company secretary Matshidiso Kimwaga.
Kimwaga, who was also the group’s compliance officer, has been on suspension following a feud between the company and some of its corporate leaders including the former Chief Executive Andrew Okai.
While Letshego Holdings faces an uphill slog to repair its image due to prolonged boardroom brawls, the company does not have loss of market share headache at the Botswana Stock Exchange where its trading.
Data shared by the BSE this past week shows that between January and May 2022, the Domestic Company Index (DCI) appreciated by 3.2 percent in comparison to a depreciation of 4.2 percent during the same period in 2021. The significant increase in turnover for this period in question was a result of the bourse recording the highest turnover in a single day of P186.8 million which occurred on 23rd March 2022. Of the P186 million worth of this trade, Letshego’s considerable contribution to total equity turnover was a significant P183.0 Million.
