Potlako Mawande, the former Chief Operating Officer of the Gambling Authority, has filed a defamation lawsuit seeking P16,729,000 against his previous employer.
He alleges that the Authority dismissed him based on fabricated evidence and subsequently blacklisted him within the gambling industry.
The writ of summons, filed at the Gaborone High Court on June 2, 2026, accuses the Gambling Authority of orchestrating a deliberate campaign to tarnish his professional reputation.
At the heart of the dispute is a letter circulated by the Authority to casinos and bookmakers in December 2025. Mawande contends that this communication was an attempt to exclude him from the industry.
Court documents reveal that the Authority sent a letter titled “Urgent Request for Employment Confirmation” to several industry licensees on December 19, 2025. The letter referenced a governance and compliance verification exercise involving Mawande.
He argues that the communication was intentionally designed to depict him as a problematic figure and to deter potential employers or business partners from engaging with him professionally.
“The impact was immediate,” Mawande claims, stating that several licensees reached out to express concern, while others terminated consultancy engagements, citing that they had “no mandate” to associate with him.
The lawsuit also challenges the circumstances of Mawande’s suspension in 2022 and his subsequent dismissal. The Gambling Authority reportedly dismissed him for allegedly misrepresenting that a Board-approved Responsible Gambling Programme (RGP) did not exist.
Mawande asserts that the Authority later fabricated evidence to justify his removal. According to the court filings, a PowerPoint strategy document presented before the Industrial Court contained data points that only appeared after 2022, making it “chronologically impossible” for the document to have been approved in 2021, as claimed.
Further allegations in the papers point to emails with “technological impossibilities” in their date sequencing, while documents purportedly from 2021 reference the Motshameko O Phepa campaign—a campaign records show was only launched in April 2022.
Mawande contends these fabrications were used to cover up the “unauthorised utilisation” of P51 million in public funds held in a Special Fund.
Supporting his case, Mawande cites a March 2026 letter from Gideon Mmolawa, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Entrepreneurship. The letter confirms that the Responsible Gambling Programme was developed only in 2023, contradicting the Authority’s sworn testimony that a Board-approved programme existed in 2021.
“This confirmation demonstrates that my dismissal was based on false information,” Mawande argues. He also notes that the Botswana Police Service has launched an investigation into the allegedly fraudulent documents.
With nearly two decades of experience in the gambling sector, Mawande says the Authority’s actions have effectively barred him from securing employment in the industry.
He is claiming special damages totaling P16.729 million, including P11.659 million for loss of future earnings up to retirement age and P5.07 million in lost professional fees related to a proposed consultancy project.
In addition to special damages, Mawande seeks general damages for reputational harm and legal costs.
The Gambling Authority, represented by Rantao Attorneys, has 14 days to enter an appearance to defend the suit. Mawande is represented by Butale Corporate Law.