Deputy District Commissioner for Northwest District, Boammaaruri Otlhogile was last week sacked from work for corruption.
Otlhogile who escaped two recent civil imprisonment convictions over debts he allegedly obtained from some people in the district, was immediately replaced by Ramogapi Gaborekwe for the Deputy District Commissioner position.
Otlhogile was recently called for disciplinary hearing following a litigation case brought before court by Sankoyo Tshwaragano Trust Management last year over a P150 000.00 which he is said to have fraudulently obtained from the Trust and failed to repay as promised.
Two members of the Trust have since been expelled from the Trust board as a result.
Although there were other corruption allegations against Otlhogile, the Sankoyo loan is said to have been the main cause of his job loss.
According to Sankoyo Community, the money was supposed to be invested towards their community development projects and Otlhogile who was to guide them on how to better utilise the funds.
Instead, he is said to have used his office powers to wrongfully take away the money from the community which is located in the wildlife protected area of the Okavango Delta.
Otlhogile is said to have secretly obtained the loan from Sankoyo in August 2022 through a “gentleman’s agreement,” between him and three members of the Trust, including the two who were removed from the board and another who had resigned much earlier for other reasons.
Although Otlhogile promised to have paid back the loan by end of October of the same year, he is said to have failed despite several attempts by the board to get back the loan.
Otlhogile then admitted to it through a letter he had written to the board with a promise that he would pay by January 2023, of which he also did not pay.
The District Commissioner’s office chairs the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) whose role is to advise and supervise the running of Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) and among them Community Development Trusts.
Since early last year Communities in the District have been complaining about the DC’s office through kgotla meetings and pointed an accusing finger especially towards Otlhogile whom they said had failed them and that he had corruption tendencies that are causing problems in the running of the community development Trusts.
