The Month of October is proving to be a bad month for former minister of Basic Education and Skills Development, Bagalatia Arone.
Last year Arone who is also the former MP for Okavango, survived a near fatal car crash in October on the way back from his father’s funeral.
This year, the 43-year-old Arone is facing yet another challenge set to play out in public in the month of October.
On 19th of October 2021, Arone’s guest house in Shakawe village in the North West District will be sold by auction to the highest bidder after he allegedly failed to pay a loan from Citizen Entrepreneur Development Agency (CEDA).
In a notice of sale in execution recently published by deputy sheriff, Phillip Maitseo, it is noted that, the guest house will be sold as a result of Francistown High court order, “Be pleased to take notice that pursuant to a judgment by the above honourable court, the following property shall be sold by public auction by Deputy Sheriff Phillip Maitseo to the highest bidder.”
The property to be sold include a piece of land measuring one thousand five hundred and forty square meters and in it sits a guest house with ten rooms each with shower and toilet, five by detached rooms, laundry room, kitchen , a pitlatrine and an incomplete slab of a guard house.
Arone got the lease of land on the 9th June 2016, the same month he was seen locked in meetings with ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) leadership and later announced his defection from opposition Botswana Congress Party to join BDP.
Then the country’s vice president Mokgweetsi Masisi was on a recruitment drive and accused of enticing new recruits with personal business deals so they can join BDP and become loyal to him once he succeeded to the presidency in 2018.
Nonetheless Arone had always insisted that he never joined BDP for the money and that his application for the guest house was approved the previous year 2015, before he jumped ship.
Arone was cited as second defendant on the matter before high court with his company, Biger Investments (PTY) LTD as the first defendant.
However Arone could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone was off air and his brother, Geofrey Arone who was the guest house manager only responded, “I do not know the reason for auction, I only learnt about it from the media.”
