A probe by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on circumstances surrounding the appointment of Oteng Keabetswe as Managing Director suggest the previous board was dissolved to pave way for his direct appointment.
Members of the PAC this week scrutinized the timing and process behind the managing director’s ascent to the top job at the state-owned development finance institution.
The previous board was dissolved around August 2025. The dissolution was framed as part of the government’s restructuring of boards across several state-owned entities.
Proceedings from the PAC suggest the timing of the dissolving of the then board was too convenient. Keabetswe was appointed as caretaker managing director effective August 1, 2025, following the board’s departure. He later transitioned to the permanent role of substantive managing director on February 1, 2026, following a six-month caretaker period, with the new board appointed on October 13, 2025, confirming him.
The role of the next board, it would seem, would only be to rubber stamp the appointment of Keabetswe.
According to a member of the previous board, they had been told during their recruitment exercise that they were ‘wasting’ their time because there was already an ordained candidate for the job. He would not disclose who said that. The then board had advanced in their interviews for a suitable candidate. ‘We were conducting psychometric tests on selected candidates,’ the member said.
The PAC questioned the process behind his appointment of Keabetswe. Committee member and Nkange MP Motlhaleemang Moalosi asked Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Joel Ramaphoi, how Keabetswe was identified and if there was an advertisement for the job and if other Batswana were given the chance to apply. The response was in the negative. Ramaphoi said Keabetswe was appointed directly by the Mnister because there was no board.
Moalosi also pointed to a forensic audit at BDC in which he alleged Keabetswe may have been implicated. He said the report pointed to alleged unethical behavior by the then investment officer Keabetswe. Sunday Standard is informed that some of the allegations in the report pointed to insider trading. Keabetswe left BDC then to work for a company in Mauritius before his return to BDC as caretaker MD in 2025 before being confirmed as substantive early this year.
Moalosi also raised questions about Keabetswe’s salary which he said was almost three times that of his predecessor. He said Keabetswe’s salary was P400,000 while his predecessor earned P150,000. He questioned why the disparity. Ramaphoi asked for time to get answers on both questions on recruitment process and the salary.
Following the dissolution and suspension of the board structure in August 2025, Keabetswe stepped in as caretaker managing director before being appointed as substantive managing director effective February 1, 2026.