02 Jun 2019

Permanent Secretary to the President Mr Carter Morupisi has clarified misconceptions about government’s position on former presidents, especially Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s retirement benefits.

Speaking in a press conference on Friday, Mr Morupisi said it was necessary to explain to the nation, government’s stance on entitlements of former presidents in accordance with the laws of Botswana.

“Of late there have been numerous complaints that the government is denying the retired presidents their due benefits. As you all know the government of Botswana has always been guided by cardinal principles that define who we are as a nation, the respect for the rule of law, consultation, humility, and the democratic discourse.

To this end, government continues to abide by these principles and will continue to do so in the interest of the nation,” he said.

Mr Morupisi said former presidents of Botswana were entitled to a tax-free monthly pension equivalent to the monthly basic salary attached to the office at the time that the person ceased to hold office or 80 per cent of the incumbent’s salary.

He explained that in the event of death a spouse was entitled to 50 per cent and children under 21 years would be entitled to a subsistence allowance drawn from the consolidated funds.

Explaining former presidents’ staff and welfare, Mr Morupisi said there was a complaint from former President Khama that his former private secretary, Brigadier George Tlhalerwa was ill-treated to the point that he terminated his contract.

“Tlhalerwa’s second contract started 1^st May 2016, it was for three years meaning it would end in May 2019. Brigadier Tlhalerwa was redeployed to former president Khama’s office retaining his benefits of F1 scale until the end of his contract. Senior private secretary of the former is at deputy permanent secretary scale.  June 12, 2018, Brigadier Tlhalerwa wrote a letter requesting to terminate his contract, which was accepted and he was allowed not to serve a notice period,” he added.

 Mr Morupisi said this created a vacancy. He said Lt Gen. Khama asked that former DIS director general Mr Isaac Kgosi be appointed, but his request was not acceded to due to reasons surrounding circumstances that led to the latter being relieved of his former duties.

He said former president Khama also requested that he move with some of his State House staff to his office.

“I directed that they be seconded for a period, not more than 12 months to assist him to settle.

He has an additional staff of 13 and part of this additional staff such as chief catering officer and senior catering officer are part of the staff compliment for State House, but the former president requested for a temporary redeployment to help him settle,” he said.

He said when it was time to recall them, Lt Gen. Khama did not agree because he was to use them to manage the presidential housing appeal, soup kitchen and football tournaments involving his team Super XI.

“He has insisted overtime that the Presidential Housing Appeal was his project, which he renamed National Housing Appeal in Mahalapye when cabinet handed house number 800.

That is when I reminded him that the housing programme for the needy started in 1994 by former president Sir Ketumile Masire when it was called the President’s Small Borrowers fund and assistance to the needy and later made a determination that the Presidential Housing Appeal would continue to be managed under the Office of the President as it is part of government’s mandate to address poverty among vulnerable groups,” he said.

He explained that government had now established the president’s housing appeal fund, which was a special fund to provide for the construction of basic housing for destitute persons. He said it would be subjected to the normal accounting and auditing procedures.

 Mr Morupisi however said former president Khama could have given the housing appeal more impetus through more private sector participation.

He said they had no issues with former presidents’ medical insurance, travel and transport.

Mr Morupisi said with regards to air transport, former president Khama interpreted the availability of aircraft differently.

He said former president was expected to request for an aircraft in advance from the President and the latter had the prerogative to accede to the request on a case to case basis.

He said there were numerous instances where his requests were approved and some not approved, but the former has since taken the matter to the court of law.

On Khama’s visit to India, Mr Morupisi said they learned about it through the Ministry of International Affairs and Cooperation and advised against honouring the invitation. He said Lt Gen. Khama was reminded of the fact that Botswana subscribed to the ‘One China’ policy and that honouring the invitation could affect Botswana-China relations.

“You will recall that former president Khama paid a visit to India recently to visit Dalai Lama despite a well-known position of Botswana that supports One China policy in view of the strong bilateral relations that subsists between the two countries. China regards Tibet as part and parcel of mainland China.

Therefore any association by any country with Dalai Lama, who is regarded as the spiritual leader of Tibet, is viewed as an act of provocation and a challenge to China’s territorial integrity,” he said. 

He said the former president knew that his visit was not approved by the government and had the potential to strain the relationship between the two countries, something that could have disastrous implications for Botswana as a developing country.

Mr Morupisi said policy shift by the sitting president was a constitutional provision. He gave examples of government programmes such as ALDEP, ARAP, ISPAAD, SLOCA and LIMID, among others, which were introduced and reviewed over time through different administrations. ENDS