The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) Chief Executive Officer position which has been vacant since December 2018 is expected to be finally filled this year.
The position fell vacant when CAAB parted ways with its then CEO, Geoffrey Mashabesha and Kabo Phutietsile was appointed to act on the position.
Last week Tuesday, Transport and Communications Minister, Thulaganyo Segokgo informed parliament that efforts are underway to fill the position and it is expected that the position will be filled in the financial year beginning April 2021.
Segokgo said the reason it took long for the position to be filled is that a suitable candidate has not been found to take fill the vacant position.
The minister’s revelations came after Maun East Member of Parliament, Goretetse Kekgonegile asked Segokgo who enquired if the company has appointed a CEO; and if not, why and when the appointment will be done.
The minister further told Parliament that since its inception in 2008, CAAB has always received government subvention and during 2020/2021 the parastatal received P128.4 million as government subvention.
This emerged after Kekgonegile asked the Minister to state the financial years that the company got a subvention from the government in the last five years.
In the past five years, the highest CAAB received from the government as a subvention amounted to P291.7 million during the 2016/2017 financial year.
However, the 128.4 million received in P128.4 million it got in the 2020/2021 financial period is the lowest since 2016.
Meanwhile, Segokgo said CAAB has since enhanced the Finance Department Team by reintroducing the position of Director Finance and Procurement in 2019 to address financial management reporting at a strategic level.
Besides, he said external auditors have been appointed in the 2016/2017 financial year.
“This has greatly improved CAAB’s financial reporting. The backlog of financial reports due to the Auditor General has been cleared,” he said.