28 Jul 2020

Office of the President has dismissed as misleading a  Weekendpost newspaper 25-31 July article headlined Masisi moves to renewed P10 million State House.

 In a press release, OP says the article is misleading since it has made an erroneous presumption that President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi had made a deal with former president Lieutenant General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama, before the latter relinquished his presidency in 2018.

 It  says it appears that the false assertion was deduced from Ministry for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration permanent secretary’s recent remarks to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to the effect that, “during the transition, it appears there was an arrangement which led to the former president having more than what he is actually entitled to as per the law.” 

 The release says for the record, the arrangement referred to was purely an administrative decision that did not involve President Masisi, who was at the material time serving as vice president.

 “The Office of the President wishes underscore the fact that the benefits of the former presidents are contained in the Presidents (pension and retirement benefits) Act. Accordingly, such benefits cannot be reduced to deals between any individuals or parties,” it says. Ends