Rampant corruption and maladministration are being alleged at Botswana Railways, forcing Management and the Railways Workers’ Union to embark on a joint investigation to save the company from collapsing.
So far, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) has conducted a good number of investigations but no one has been brought before the court of law.
It is also alleged that the Directorate of Intelligence Services (DIS) also launched its own investigations.
“The union has long wanted massive investigations to be carried out at BR because of the problems the organization has been facing for a very long time,” Gaebepe Molaudi, the chairperson of the Botswana Railways Amalgamated Workers Union, (BRAWU), told the Telegraph.
She said such investigations are a step forward towards the Commission of Inquiry that they have long advocated for.
Molaudi explained that they have written numerous letters to the Office of the President but nothing came out of it until last month when the Union and the BR management met with the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Communication.
She said the investigations are expected to take four weeks and should be completed by the end of next month.
The Commission of Inquiry is made up of six members from management and the Union.
“Some of those reports were classified for investigations while others were referred to other relevant organizations since they did not fall under the mandate of the DCEC,” said the Public Relations Officer of the DCEC, Lentswe Motshoganetsi. “To date, a number of investigations have been closed due to various reasons.”
He added: “The DCEC is not in a position to discuss specific investigations at the moment since it is against its policy to do so.”
