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Botswana: Prisons' Boss in Club Confrontation?
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
21 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008
Lekopanye Mooketsi
The Commissioner of Prisons and Rehabilitation, Herman Kau is alleged to have caused a scene recently when he kicked-out off duty officers socialising at the Gaborone Club.
An officer who preferred anonymity, said when Kau found the officers at the club, he ordered them to leave.
One of the officers was said to be the commissioner's official driver who was also off duty on the weekend. The source said the driver, who does not drink alcohol, pleaded with Kau that he was meeting with his brothers at the club but in vain. His brothers did not take kindly to the manner in which the commissioner was ill treating him.
Another officer is said to have told Kau to his face that he was a fully paid member of the club and he was not going to leave. The Gaborone Club is an exclusive members only recreation centre, which has been operating since the 1960s. The club is located at the Village suburb just behind Camp Primary School near the Prisons' officers' quarters.
The Monday after the incident at the club, Kau is alleged to have summoned his driver to his office for disciplinary action. A few days later, the driver was deployed to another unit because Kau no longer wanted to work with him.
When contacted, Kau declined to comment and referred Monitor to the public relations officer. He said all the press inquiries to his department have to be done in writing.
Senior Assistant Commissioner, Anthony Mokento could not confirm nor deny the club incident. "You are kindly referred to or, advised to enquire from management of Gaborone Club about matters which arose at their premises," he responded to a Monitor questionnaire.
On the transfer of Kau's driver, he said the redeployment of prisons staff affects all officers. He said nearly everyone in the service has been re-deployed at some point. "Hence, there is nothing untoward that should be read from any re-deployment," he said.
Mokento added that redeployment is done purely to answer to the dictates of the service and nothing else. "Therefore our recent deployment of staff was not influenced by anything that might have occurred outside work," he said.
The chairman of the Gaborone Club, Kgalalelo Monthe said the incident in which Kau is alleged to have kicked out prison officers from the facility was never brought to his attention.
He explained that as per their procedure, only members are allowed at the club. Non-members pay a P10 fee or they can be allowed to come if they are accompanied by members. In the past, other prison officers have revealed that the commissioner terrorises them. One officer said they are being treated as if they are in prison. Last year when a commission on the review of civil servants salaries went round seeking views, prison officers were prevented from making presentations.
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Sometime back, a task force was appointed to investigate the relationship between Kau and his deputy, Elizabeth Masire. The two officers allegedly do not see eye to eye. At some stage, Kau took Masire to task for telling a newspaper that she does not support the death penalty. However, Masire insisted she was expressing her personal opinion.
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| 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. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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