30 Mar 2025

The Minister for State President, Mr Moeti Mohwasa says Alvarez & Marsal, a company engaged by government to do  forensic audit, was appointed through credible and transparent process following negotiations.

Responding to a question from the Leader of Opposition, Mr Dumelang Saleshando on Thursday, Mr Mohwasa said given the specialist of the services offered by the company and the advanced data analytical tools the company had, they were selected to ensure there was thoroughness and precision in the process.

He said the forensic audit would not involve any local companies doing forensic work.

Mr Mohwasa said the objective was to have an impartial process carried out by experts who had no connection whatsoever to any of the entities or persons that the forensic audit aimed to cover.

“To remove any influence, conflict or any shadow of bias, it was decided that a foreign company would carryout the forensic audit,” he said.

Mr Mohwasa said the audit project would be carried out in two phases, first developing comprehensive forensic audit plan and project framework, including a risk assessment and mapping of government departments, agencies and state owned enterprises, identifying and assessing corruption and fraud risks and providing a data driven tool to monitor and mitigate corruption risks over time, among others.

He said under phase two, the company would conduct up to 30 forensic audits following the assessment performed in the audit planning stage with the objective to evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of governance structures and practices within government ministries, departments, state owned enterprises and regulatory authorities.

On whether the audit findings will be made public, Mr Mohwasa said the findings of the forensic audit would inform next steps, adding that in some cases, they would reveal evidence that required potential legal or disciplinary actions that would not be shared with the public but would form the basis of the requisite legal action.

Mr Mohwasa said the forensic audit would also evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of governance structures and practices within government, state owned enterprises and regulatory authorities.

Therefore, he said it was critical to share the findings to ensure that solutions to address identified gaps and improve the design, mandate and structure of oversight and implement control functions.

Mr Mohwasa said the forensic audit would be conducted over a period of 10 months, therefore would be concluded in December 2025.

Maun North MP, Mr Saleshando has asked the minister to state the company engaged to undertake the forensic audit, how it was identified and if equally qualified companies were given the opportunity to offer their services.

He also wanted to establish if the company was engaged through direct appointment and if the process was considered to be transparent and credible given the sensitivity of the matter as well as the amount involved.

Mr Saleshando also asked if qualified Botswana forensic auditors would undertake any aspects of the audit.

He also sought to know the scope and terms of reference of the audit, when the exercise will be concluded and if the audit report will be made public. ENDS