Botswana's Gaborone City Investment Company Alleges Council Obstruction

The Gaborone City Investment Company (GCIC), a commercial entity created to rescue Gaborone's finances, has accused the Gaborone City Council (GCC) of withholding asset registers, leases, and revenue records. GCIC's chief executive, Kabo Bruno Moitoi, has appealed to the Office of the President to compel the Council to disclose its books and ensure accountability. The dispute centers on valuable council assets and land that GCIC needs to generate revenue and transform the capital.

GCIC was incorporated in July 2025 to address Gaborone's declining revenues, anemic rate collection, and dependence on central-government subventions. The company became operational in February 2026, but says it has been met with resistance from the Council. Repeated requests for the Council's asset register, commercial-property information, lease agreements, and revenue data have largely been ignored. GCIC has had to resort to improvised methods of verification, including drone surveys and physical counts.

A Deeds Registry search commissioned by GCIC revealed roughly 600 properties registered to the Gaborone City Council, but the company was initially only shown 65 plots. Only a handful of leases tied to those properties were later handed over. GCIC argues that this discrepancy raises questions about whether Council-owned land is properly recorded, lawfully allocated, and leased at market-related values.

GCIC has also expressed concerns about the leases that were produced, describing rentals that appear materially below commercial potential and termination clauses that could saddle the Council with avoidable liabilities. The company's revenue analysis showed a recovery rate of less than 30 percent, which it brands a serious revenue-performance failure. GCIC had built a comprehensive debt-and-revenue strategy, but implementation stalled due to lack of cooperation from Council departments.

The dispute has deepened into a bitter standoff between the Council and its investment arm, with GCIC seeking help from the Office of the President. The company has accused Council officials of obstructing its efforts to take control of assets belonging to the GCC. GCIC's market analysis suggests that outdoor advertising within the Council's jurisdiction should be worth over P80 million a year, but Council billing has remained below P2 million.

GCIC is framing its grievance as more than a turf war, describing a pattern of non-disclosure, undervalued assets, weak controls, and commercial arrangements that may not be protecting public value. The company warns that such practices could normalise non-disclosure, weaken the authority of Council resolutions, and deepen dependence on government funding. GCIC is requesting immediate release of the full asset register, lease files, and debtor information, as well as an independent investigation into the Council's commercial assets.

The outcome of GCIC's appeal to the Office of the President is uncertain, but the company is clear that urgent intervention is needed to prevent the reforms it was established to implement from being neutralised. Without such intervention, the government may ultimately be forced to step in to address the governance failures and financial mismanagement that GCIC has identified. The situation highlights the challenges of addressing corruption and promoting transparency in local government.

Key points

• GCIC alleges that Gaborone City Council is hiding assets and obstructing reforms aimed at rescuing the city's finances.
• The dispute centers on valuable council assets and land that GCIC needs to generate revenue and transform the capital.
• GCIC is seeking urgent intervention from the Office of the President to compel the Council to disclose its books and ensure accountability.