In politics, yesterday’s executioner can become tomorrow’s accused. That is what makes the possible addition of former minister and Permanent Secretary to the President Eric Molale to the Noah Salakae corruption case so politically intriguing.
On the surface, it is another corruption prosecution involving a multibillion-pula government tender. Beneath that, however, lies a story stretching back more than a decade, a story involving a dismissal letter, a defiant magistrate and the long memory of Botswana’s public institutions.
Today, Salakae and several co-accused stand before the courts over allegations linked to the P1.5 billion Ghanzi-New Xade road project. Prosecutors allege that Tau Grading and its officials offered Salakae a P1.6 million cash bribe, a Toyota Fortuner and bush-clearing services in exchange for influence over the award of the contract. The allegations remain untested in court and all accused persons are presumed innocent.
The case has already become politically charged. Salakae has publicly accused a senior DCEC official of pursuing him for personal reasons and later directed his criticism at Deputy Director Thabo Malambane, a former magistrate who rose through private legal practice to become one of the most senior anti-corruption investigators.
Yet if Molale is ultimately added to the charge sheet, the spotlight may shift from Salakae’s allegations to a far older chapter.
For it was Molale who signed the letter that ended Malambane’s judicial career. The story begins in Ghanzi in 2013. Then Principal Magistrate Thabo Malambane found himself at the centre of national controversy after granting unconditional bail to two men accused of the murder of Ghanzi farmer Reinett Vorster. The decision provoked outrage. Matters escalated when the suspects were subsequently re-arrested on separate charges and a related case was transferred from Ghanzi to Gaborone without Malambane’s approval. Viewing the move as interference with judicial independence, he boycotted court proceedings and demanded answers from his superiors.
The standoff ended badly. The Acting Chief Justice ordered him to return to work. Malambane refused. The dispute quickly evolved from a disagreement over judicial independence into a confrontation over authority itself. Government concluded that Malambane’s conduct amounted to insubordination.
On April 2, 2014, President Ian Khama decided to dismiss him. The man tasked with delivering the decision was Erik Molale. In a letter signed in his capacity as Permanent Secretary to the President, Molale informed Malambane that Khama had considered his explanations and determined that his refusal to obey a lawful order constituted gross misconduct justifying summary dismissal. The letter ended Malambane’s career on the bench with immediate effect.
At the time, few would have imagined that the paths of the two men would cross again in such dramatic fashion. Malambane remained in Ghanzi after his dismissal and established himself as a private attorney. Years later he would re-emerge in public service, joining the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime and eventually rising to become deputy director.
Molale, meanwhile, went on to become a cabinet minister before retiring from public service.
Now fate appears to have brought them back into the same story. The corruption investigation that has engulfed Salakae and Tau Grading originated within the DCEC before being handed to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions. The prosecution recently informed the court that another suspect is expected to be added to the case. Sources indicate that person is likely to be Molale.
Whether Molale is eventually charged, and whether any charge can be sustained, remains a matter for the prosecution and ultimately the courts. The evidence, not history, will determine guilt or innocence. Salakae’s supporters have sought to portray the case as a product of personal vendettas. So far, they have offered no evidence linking the charges to the alleged personal differences between Malambane and the accused persons.
Yet the symbolism surrounding Molale and Malambane is impossible to ignore. Twelve summers ago, one man signed a letter ending the other’s career. Today, the man who received that letter occupies a senior position in the institution whose investigation may help place the retired former Permanent Secretary and cabinet minister before a criminal court. Is Malambane finally having his revenge?