Choppies boardroom fights costs P5.8m
Despite Choppies’ recent impressive annual results, skeletons continue to tumble from the company’s closets.
Botswana Guardian can reveal that previous independent directors, led by former President Festus Mogae raked in over P5.78 million in director’s fees for 34 meetings, held in under 12 months to try and untangle the boardroom squabbles that had overwhelmed Choppies, last year.
The development comes at the backdrop of Choppies Chief Executive Officer, Ottapathu Ramachandran and Founding
Director Ismail Farouk demanding a P450 million compensation for losses in market share of their shareholdings.
Quizzed on the alarming bill for non- executive directors for the marathon meetings, while the company’s performance plummeted, Ramachandran said the high cost is a result of boardroom squabbles.
He bemoaned that some of the meetings were without minutes, making part of the claims unethical.
Ramachandran further said the company suffered several losses due to the past boardroom fights, highlighting that even the 100million South African
Rands consultation fees paid for a forensic investigation on the company was another dent, the company should have not endured.
However, Ramachandran attributes the company’s resilience to the barrel of challenges it faced, to a strong foundation.
“The fibre of the company is based on truth and trust, that is why it prevailed. With all the problems it faced, the company sustained itself,” said Ramachandran.
Last year, Ramachandran was suspended from being Choppies CEO, leading to a forensic investigation into the companies’ operation, with doubts being cast on a number of company procedures, allegedly defaulted under Ramachandran’s watch.
However, Ottapathu remained resolute to save a 27 years legacy from crumbling, citing that the board suspended him without a plan to move the company forward.
Meanwhile, Choppies has cut down on its appetite to increase footprint on the continent and remains with operations in four countries – Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Funding new opportunities has been blamed for denting Choppies operations in the past. The CEO says the retailer’s huge appetite for expansion has been trimmed.