Lekopanye Mooketsi
27 March 2008
Gaborone — Officers who have been working for the Botswana Police's intelligence unit, known as Special Branch, said they have been left in the lurch following the establishment of the Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS).
The officers said members of their unit are so demoralised that if they were working for a private company, they could have gone on strike.
The officers revealed to Mmegi that Vice President Ian Khama's Private Secretary, Lieutenant-Colonel Isaac Kgosi recently informed them that the police intelligence services unit would be abolished with effect from April 1. It is widely believed Kgosi is the man likely to head Botswana's new intelligence unit. The officers said Kgosi invited them to submit their CVs so that they could be co-opted into the directorate but he has never contacted them since then. They said he promised he would call them for interviews but has never done so.
The officers said some of their former colleagues have been co-opted into the directorate. But they said people who have been appointed are those who have either resigned or retired from the Botswana Police Service. The officers said they do not know the criteria used to recruit people for the DISS. They believe that there is an element of favouritism.
They said Kgosi threatened that they would be liable to a three-year jail term if they divulged any information about the directorate. "Kgosi told us that if we raise any concerns we could be jailed," said one of the officers. They said newly appointed officers for the directorate, including Kgosi, were recently sent for a training stint. The officers said nobody had told them about their fate, not even their director at the Botswana Police. They added that Deputy Police Commissioner (Security Intelligence) Harold Mogale said he did not know any thing. They revealed that even Police Commissioner Thebeyame Tsimako has not addressed them but has instead been addressing uniformed police officers about their fate.
The officers said recently when promotions were made for the Botswana Police, their unit was left out. They said they could not be considered for promotion because it was assumed they would be transferred to the unit. The officers said that their supervisors have told them that if moved to the new directorate, they would have to resign from the Botswana Police. But what is amazing, is that their retirement benefits would be transferred to the directorate.
The officer said they have been told that only 25 percent of their staff would be transferred to the directorate. But they claimed that at the moment, they are in the dark about what is going to be happen to them. However, Kgosi said the officers were "talking rubbish". "I am not dealing with such issues that they raised," said Kgosi who declined to reveal what his new role in the spy agency is going to be. He referred Mmegi to the Head of Botswana Police intelligence unit, Mogale. But Mogale said "these are policy issues" that can only be addressed by the commissioner.
When contacted, Police Commissioner Tsimako said the officers were aware of all the channels and procedures available to them. "They should have consulted their supervisors," he said. Tsimako said something is being done about the officers in the intelligence wing. "When things are ready, they will be told," he said. The police chief said a team appointed to look into various aspects of the issue, had consulted the officers. "There is no way they are going to be left out. They are still going to be briefed. They are just getting impatient. I will tell them to be patient," said the commissioner. Last year, when the intelligence Bill was passed many people voiced their opposition against the establishment of DISS. They argued that the country was not under any external threat. In fact, they felt that the agency was going to be used to spy on government critics like journalists, opposition politicians and trade unionists. In the past opposition politicians and members of the ruling BDP, have complained that they have realised they were under intelligence surveillance.
Other people feel that the architect of the agency is the incoming president, Ian Khama. Sources have pointed out that Khama believes in security intelligence and would have people directly reporting to him.
The establishment of the agency comes at a time when Khama is about to take over as Botswana's fourth state president.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
