Exposed: BDP’s role in Tautona Lodge

A prominent Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) politician is the sole director of Tautona Lodge, purchased secretively in 2021 by Botswana's spy agency.

This unusual arrangement raises fresh questions about political interference in state assets and the clear lack of transparency surrounding the Directorate of Intelligence and Security's (DIS) P58 million purchase of Tautona Lodge in Ghanzi.

Records from the Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) show that one Patrick Cyril Manthe is the sole dir ector of Tautona Farm, acquired by the DIS in 2021 under a vague “national security” rhetoric.

Efforts to reach Manthe were unsuccessful. DIS Director General, Peter Fana Magosi only mentioned that Manthe is a DIS employee.

“He is our employee,” Magosi sa id, without clarifying the circumstances surrounding the employment of a political activist. The Business Weekly & Review had sought clarification on the sole director.

But The Business Weekly & Review can reveal that Manthe is an active BDP politician. In 2012, he was the chairman of the Thamaga–Mogoditshane Sub-District and unsuccessfully contested the BDP’s 2018 parliamentary primaries in the Lentsweletau–Mmopane constituency. The Business Weekly & Review asked the B DP if it was normal practice for card-carrying members to be directors in state-owned assets. Spokesperson Tumy Modise referred this publication to Secretary General Kentse Rammidi, who said he is currently not in the office. Mpho Balopi, the recently elec ted party president, also did not respond.

It is unusual for active [ruling party] politicians to be appointed director of a state-owned enterprise. It is frowned upon, especially when there is any suspicion of conflict of interest. Normally, accounting o fficers are listed as directors of government companies.

The revelation comes after it emerged recently from the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that the controversial Tautona Lodge, owned by the DIS, does not appear in the government assets book. The Busi ness Weekly & Review has turned up further information that suggests a secretive acquisition of the property.

CIPA records show further that the Botswana Government became the sole shareholder on 18 May 2021, with a curious address identified as Plot 22693 , Phase 4, Gaborone, Botswana. There are no government offices at the said residential address.

Deeds Registry records show that the plot in question belongs to one Grace Vilakati.

Appearing before the PAC two weeks back, Magosi told the committee that th e 4,000-hectare Tautona Farm in Ghanzi, including its lodge, belongs to the intelligence agency—a direct contradiction to earlier statements made in Parliament by former Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng.

Since its acquisition in 2021, the Tautona Lodge, formerly owned by ex-cabinet minister Christian de Graaf, has been the subject of public and parliamentary debate.

However, appearing before the PAC chaired by MP Taolo Lucas, Magosi said the farm was acquired by the DIS for operational use.

“As a state security, our operations are classified. What we do in that area is for the benefit of the organisation,” he told the committee, without clarification. “Having the lodge there was an added advantage, which we still require for operational purposes.”

Magosi acknowledged that he was aware of the responses previously given in Parliament but said he appeared before the PAC to "set the record straight."

“That place is owned by the Botswana government, but was bought by the DIS for its operational use,” he said.

Magosi did not elaborate on the agency’s activities at the lodge but vaguely noted that he felt the urge to provide some clarity to the public.

“In our analysis, we have realised that there are certain areas where, in the long run, the government ma y face problems,” he said, noting that Ghanzi is increasingly surrounded by private farms.

“Today, some countries are fighting over land.”

While his explanation lacked context, Magosi further revealed that the DIS had plans to continue acquiring land in the area, but those efforts had been halted.

“That was a clandestine operation that we did as state security, but you have stopped us from doing that,” he said. “But 10, 15 years down the line, you will then realise we knew what we were doing.”

In an attempt to justify the astronomical price tag for the property, Magosi diverted attention to make unsubstantiated claims that the country’s military was also acquiring land near Tautona Lodge. However, the PAC asked him to halt his claims as the Botswana Defence Force would answer for itself.

An intellige nce source said the DIS has been evasive in its acquisition of swaths of land around the country.

“They bought another farm in the Nata area,” the source said, pleading for anonymity, fearing victimisation.

The source explained that the DIS acquired the T autona Farm ostensibly for operational use - a term used to mean “training.” The source said the acquisition comes after the Department of Wildlife and National Parks expressed the need to use its Lone Tree training facilities more often. This left the DI S without its own training base.

Dismissing Magosi's national security claims, the source said Ghanzi location is not justifiable as a problem area and that there is no urgent national security threat in comparative terms.

“There is no trans-organised cri me or poaching in that area. There is lots of poaching in the Chobe area.”

“In every essence, under national security imperatives, there is no justification for the acquisition of land in that area. It is just for training.”

Earlier this year, the curre nt Minister for State President, Moeti Mohwasa, told Parliament that the government would conduct a comprehensive review of the Tautona acquisition and its ties to the DIS, including whether public funds were misused.

“If there is available evidence associ ating the acquisition of Tautona Lodge with the DIS, my ministry naturally seeks to understand the rationale, particularly whether such reasons fulfill the mandate of the Intelligence and Security Service as established by the ISS Act of 2007,” Mohwasa sai d. “As a government, we take seriously the need for accountability when and where it is required.”