END OF THE ROAD
Troubled Sibisibi resigns before elections It was recommended that he be dismissed Galeragwe of Central district might succeed him
Councillors have converged at Maun for an elective Botswana Association of Local Authorities (BALA) congress. It is at the Maun congress where councillors will elect new leadership today (Wednesday) following a controversial presidential term for Geoffrey Sibisibi. According to reliable sources, Sibisibi resigned from his position as BALA president early this month.
“He was suspended after it was found that he was closely linked to Blu Thorn Fund Managers, a liquidated company that owes many companies millions of pula. The Disciplinary Committee then recommended that he be dismissed but he resigned instead.”
Sibisibi’s phone rang unanswered this week and he did not respond to messages left for him. However, The Midweek Sun can confirm that shortly after Sibisibi was elected into BALA office in 2020, reports surfaced linking him to Blu Thorn, a company that owes many companies and government organisations huge sums of money, P211 million to be exact. Blu Thorn owes close to 30 organisations and individuals. Among them are over seven district councils, including Ghanzi Council with the highest amount of P40 million, Letlhakeng Sub Council P15 million and Tlokweng Landboard and Southern District Council are owed P10 million. Sibisibi is a former Kweneng District Council Chairperson and suspicion is that he used his power and influence to lure councils into investing in a company closely linked to him. The case is still ongoing at the Gaborone High Court where all those who had invested in Blu Thorn are trying to understand where all the money went and if there is anything to be salvaged. At the time that Blu Thorn Fund managers were being investigated, a perusal of CIPA records showed that a large chunk of its 60 percent belonged to another company, Bluthorn Holdings Proprietary Limited, for which Sibisibi was director from September 2015 until 28 February 2020. Company details revealed that another Sibisibi name, Kelebogile Sibisibi, daughter of Geoffrey, has shares in the same company in which Geoffrey was director. The daughter owns 300 shares while the remaining 700 belong to another company called B Thorn Proprietary Limited. B Thorn Company is owned by one Eune Engelbrecht of South African
origin. He has 60 percent of the company shares, while Kelebogile owns 40 percent of its shares. Meanwhile, it is expected that Central District Council chairperson Ketshwereng Galeragwe will battle it out with Florah Mpetsane of North East District Council for the position of BALA president. However, by press time on Tuesday, it was not clear if Mpetsane who has been acting president since Sibisibi left would contest or not. Lobby groups had not been publicly shared and some councillors told this publication that it is because some candidates were seemingly chickening out.