A confidential legal letter from law firm Monthe Marumo & Co., now leaked to the media, has dragged former president Ian Khama and President Duma Boko into an unfolding intelligence and political storm tied to the controversial Air Botswana investigations.
The letter, addressed to Police Commissioner Dinah Marathe and dated October 29, 2025, was written on behalf of Pulane Pretty Kgaodi, a senior Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) officer. It outlines claims of political interference, abuse of power, and unlawful arrest linked to what insiders are calling one of Botswana’s most explosive intelligence scandals in years.
According to the correspondence, Kgaodi-who has instructed the firm to file urgent High Court proceedings-was part of a covert team tasked by then-president Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi to probe alleged misconduct at Air Botswana and within the DIS itself. The letter alleges that the investigation had touched on serious national security issues, including safety violations, maladministration, and suspected corruption.
However, the lawyer’s letter claims the operation took a dark turn when the Director General of the DIS, Retired Brigadier Peter Magosi, was allegedly tipped off about the probe by Permanent Secretary to the President Emma Peloetletse, who reportedly leaked confidential investigative materials including a whistleblower’s audio testimony to Magosi.
In a dramatic twist, the letter accuses Peloetletse of initiating a “false and retaliatory inquiry” against Kgaodi and her team to “discredit and pre-empt” the presidentially sanctioned investigation. It further states that the five-member team was suspended, arrested, and interrogated between March 21 and March 23, 2024, in what it describes as an “attempt to frustrate” the ongoing investigation and “destroy critical evidence.”
During her arrest, Kgaodi was allegedly accused by joint teams of DIS and Botswana Police officers, including Senior Superintendent Mangoyi and one Mr. Olebile, of having received P4 million from suspects she had previously investigated.
The letter continues with more explosive allegations: that police claimed Kgaodi laundered funds from international sources in collaboration with former president Ian Khama, purportedly to finance the political activities of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC). It further asserts that investigators cited alleged correspondence between Kgaodi, Khama, and UDC agents, including its president and now the current President of Botswana, Duma Boko.
The correspondence does not provide evidence of these claims but reveals that the law firm is demanding answers from the police regarding the alleged P4 million, the documents supposedly linking Kgaodi to Khama and Boko, and the officers’ chain of command.
Monthe Marumo & Co. asked Commissioner Marathe to confirm whether the police had indeed seconded the two named officers to the DIS at Magosi’s request and whether the money allegedly recovered from Kgaodi was still in state custody or had been returned to her.
The firm warned that failure to respond could trigger legal proceedings to compel disclosure, citing the “significance to national security and the broader public interest.”
