04 Aug 2026

Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) satellite centres in Sojwe, Phitshane Molopo and Ncojane are on track to open next financial year, Parliament has heard.

Answering a question in Parliament recently, Minister of Higher Education, Mr Prince Maele, said the rollout followed completion of the accreditation process by the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA).

Minister Maele noted that the facilities were built in phases, where phase one, the physical construction, had been completed, while phase two involved accreditation of learning programmes. 

The minister confirmed that all three centres had been included and budgeted for under the National Development Plan 12 (NDP 12). 

He, however, dismissed reports of falling ceilings at the facilities, stating that the Ncojane centre was completed recently and was scheduled to enrol its first cohort of students next year.

Regarding ongoing internal management concerns, Mr Maele admitted that he received a petition from CITF staff dated 29 April 2025 complaining about a lot of administrative issues. He explained that efforts were made to instruct the Board of Trustees to respond, which they did in writing on 12 May 2025.

“Unfortunately, when I was about to give feedback to staff, they wrote to me that they had escalated the matter to the Office of the President so there was nothing I could do in terms of the petition. Despite that I still believe we can still resolve some of the issues such as money owed to them,” he added.

He stated that staff were owed about P8 million out of which management paid about P800 000 last month, representing 10 per cent of their owed dues. 

He added that letters were written to employees acknowledging the outstanding debt as per their request.

On other issues, Mr Maele acknowledged that some senior officers had increased their salaries by 16 per cent.

He explained that the decision was approved by the board following a remuneration study. 

“I was told that the board made a decision based on the study from Tsa Badiri Consultancy presented before them, as the survey indicated that they deserved to be sitting at that level,” he said.

He added that efforts had been made to address staff in all centres across the country to appreciate their challenges and successes.

He further dismissed allegations that the acting executive director, who embarked on a 10-day trip, claimed night-outs and converted them into local per diem upon return. 

“The officer was given a local per diem amounting to P17 400 and upon return from the trip, paid back P9 322 as retirement. I have documents here as proof of evidence that the officer embarked on a 10-day trip visiting various satellite centres of Kazungula, Nata, Francistown, Maun, Palapye and Chadibe,” he said.

Mr Maele also informed Parliament that there was an officer who had tried to illegally change the work contractor and the issue was before the courts of law.

Parliament also heard that CITF was not swallowing Madirelo Training and Testing Centre (MTTC), but was only using workshops for some programmes because some at CITF had no capacity.

On the sponsorship issue, he explained that the affected officer decided to pursue training without approval and later wanted retrospective approval, while other officers waited for approval, hence they were granted sponsorship for their development paths. 

“The process of training requires that one has to make a request and await approval to secure official sponsorship,” he explained.

Mogoditshane West MP, Mr Galenawabo Lekau had called for accountability regarding issues of maladministration, poor governance and unfair treatment across CITF centres. 

Mr Lekau had also raised concerns over financial mismanagement, particularly on allegations that senior officers unlawfully awarded themselves salary hikes without board approval.

He further expressed concern about unchecked practices such as staff unilaterally converting short-term contracts into permanent ones as well as, among others, failure by management to attend longstanding employee petitions. ENDS