DISS must fix its image – Gov’t Study
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DISS Director; Isaac Kgosi
A Vision 2016 commissioned study sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says the Directorate on Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) is doing ‘very little or nothing to correct its battered image’.
The study however praises transparency, accountability and information sharing by the DISS hierarchy.
The Vision 2016’s new report on household opinion survey was conducted by LOGICA consultancy during the months of July and September 2015 and was published at the end of last month.
It notes that since its formation in 2008, DISS has unearthed and exposed organised crime syndicates threatening national interests. These organised groups are involved in an array of illegal activities such as terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, human smuggling and trafficking, and official corruption, the study acknowledges.
However, the study continues that “Although the DISS was established for a good reason, the agency’s work is not appreciated by some citizens as they believe that it is not doing what they expect it to do. There is a problem of credibility as some people believe that it was created to spy on them while others believe that its leaders are accountable unto themselves,” reads the study in part.
In addition the study points out that there is a perception that there is no transparency in the way national resources are handled by the agency.
“The role played by the DISS must be clearly defined so that citizens can appreciate its relevance to the modern society. Lessons can be drawn from countries such as the USA where intelligence agencies have been in existence for many years and still have the trust and confidence of the citizens,” reads an extract from the study.
The authors of the Vision 2016 count down study conclude by indicating that a concerted effort must be made to improve the image of the DISS.
“Its achievements must be shared with members of the public. Furthermore the leaders of the urgency must be transparent in terms of how national resources allocated to them are utilised,” says the study.
VISION 2016 SURVEY BLOWS HOT AND COLD
Meanwhile, the same Vision 2016’s report on household opinion survey conducted by LOGICA consultancy has been characterized as not being representative of the citizens’ response to the Vision as a whole.
Stakeholders lambasted the Vision 2016 household survey that had applied among other things a statistical survey method which had 1 777 respondents. The stakeholders lampooned the 1 777 figure of respondents as not being representative of the opinion of the entire populace.
They also shot down the ‘trivial survey’ as it failed to mention the baseline of improvements from the previous period to the current times.
The Vision 2016 household survey has revealed that the majority of respondents across all the administrative districts as well as five cities and towns have heard of the vision. It has also revealed that the vision 2016 meaning has still not effectively trickled down to the far flung countryside areas as only 70.7 percent of Batswana dwelling in the cattle posts and lands have heard of the vision.
The report also states that in the rural villages 80.6% have said they have not heard of the vision, also showing that there are still Batswana in metropolitan areas who still have not heard of vision 2016 despite it being in its last months as a national vision. In terms of Vision 2016’s first pillar on education the survey states that Batswana believe that progress has been made in improving quality as reflected by the number of qualified teachers employed, introduction to technology in schools and a reduction in the teacher pupil ratio has substantially been reduced in public schools.
The report also says that 60 percent of Batswana felt that living conditions such as housing, health, clothing conditions and food consumption have improved. It also says that unemployment is on the decline, still unacceptably high at 19 percent for a country of Botswana’s economic standing while living standards in the lands and cattle post areas have improved marginally with 39.2 percent of respondents reporting improvement in their living standards compared to the last 5 years while Botswana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita has been increasing steadily.
Concerning the pillar of ‘A safe and secure nation’ the report states that in the past female soldiers were not allowed in to the army while in current times they have since been allowed and there has been a 16% reduction rate in serious, violent and intrusive crime while there has also been as an increase in road safety. However it also says that Batswana are dissatisfied with the country’s shoot to kill policy that concerns poaching as it might harm the country’s diplomatic relations with neighbouring states and eventually the safety of its citizens.
It also goes on to mention that 55.7% of the respondents were satisfied with the services provided by health care facilities and that 16.3% of Batswana live below the poverty datum line.
On the pillar of ‘An Open, Democratic and Accountable Nation’ the survey states that about 60 percent of respondents confirmed various international agencies reports that Botswana is one of the best governed and least corrupt countries in Africa.
The report also lists broadcast as the most medium that has the farthest reach in disseminating the Vision 2016 message at 60 percent followed by Broadcast television at 35 percent while private newspapers hover at 10 percent.
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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES: Masisi asks Virginia for help
President Mokgweetsi Masisi says the issue of sustainable natural resources management has always been an important part of Botswana’s national development agenda.
Masisi was speaking this week on the occasion of a public lecture at Virginia Polytechnic, under theme, “Merging Conservation, Democracy and Sustainable Development in Botswana.”
Botswana, according to Masisi, holds the view that the environment is fragile and as such, must be managed and given the utmost protection to enable the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is necessary that we engage one another in the interchange of ideas, perspectives, visualizations of social futures, and considerations of possible strategies and courses of action for sustainable development,” said Masisi.
On the other hand, dialogue, in the form of rigorous democratic discourse among stakeholders presents another basis for reconfiguring how people act on their environments, with a view to conserving its resources that “we require to meet our socio-economic development needs on a sustainable basis,” Masisi told attendees at the public lecture.
He said government has a keen interest in understanding the epidemiology and ecology of diseases of both domestic and wild animals. “It is our national interest to forestall the dire consequences of animal diseases on our communities livelihoods.”
President Masisi hoped that both Botswana and Virginia could help each other in curbing contagious diseases of wildlife.
“We believe that Virginia Tech can reasonably share their experiences, research insights and advances in veterinary sciences and medicines, to help us build capacity for knowledge creation and improve efforts of managing and containing contagious diseases of wildlife. The ground is fertile for entering into such a mutually beneficial partnership.”
When explaining environmental issues further, Masisi said efforts of conservation and sustainable development might at times be hampered by the emergence and recurrence of diseases when pathogens mutate and take host of more than one species.
“Water pollution also kills aquatic life, such as fish, which is one of humanity’s much deserved sources of food. In this regard, One Health Approach imposes ecological responsibility upon all of us to care for the environment and the bio-diversity therein.”
He said the production and use of animal vaccines is an important space and tool for conservation, particularly to deal with trans-border animal diseases.
“In Botswana, our 43-year-old national premier pharmaceutical institution called Botswana Vaccine Institute has played its role well. Through its successful production of highly efficacious Foot and Mouth vaccines, the country is able to contain this disease as well as supply vaccines to other countries in the sub-region.:
He has however declared that there is need for more help, saying “We need more capacitation to deal with and contain other types of microbial that affect both animals and human health.”
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Masisi saddened by deaths of elephant attacks
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed a strong worry over elephants killing people in Botswana. When speaking in Virginia this week, Masisi said it is unfortunate that Batswana have paid a price with their own blood through being attacked by elephants.
“Communities also suffer unimaginable economic losses yearly when their crops are eaten by the elephants. In spite of such incidents of human-elephant conflict, our people embrace living together with the animals. They fully understand wildlife conservation and its economic benefits in tourism.”
In 2018, Nthobogang Samokwase’s father was attacked by an elephant when travelling from the fields, where he stayed during the cropping season.
It was reported that the man couldn’t run because of his age. He was found trampled by the elephant and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
In the same year, in Maun, a 57-year-old British woman was attacked by an elephant at Boro and died upon arrival at the hospital. The woman was with her Motswana partner, and were walking dogs in the evening.
Last month, a Durban woman named Carly Marshall survived an elephant attack while on holiday in the bush in Botswana. She was stabbed by one of the elephant’s tucks through the chest and was left with bruises. Marshall also suffered several fractured ribs from the ordeal.
President Masisi Botswana has the largest population of African elephants in the world, totaling more than 130 000. “This has been possible due to progressive conservation policies, partnerships with the communities, and investment in wildlife management programmes.”
In order to benefit further from wildlife, Masisi indicated that government has re-introduced controlled hunting in 2019 after a four-year pause. “The re-introduction of hunting was done in an open, transparent and democratic way, giving the communities an opportunity to air their views. The funds from the sale of hunting quota goes towards community development and elephant conservation.”
He stressed that for conservation to succeed, the local people must be involved and derive benefits from the natural resources within their localities.
“There must be open and transparent consultations which involve all sectors of the society. It is against this backdrop that as a country, we lead the continent on merging conservation, democracy and sustainable development.”
Masisi stated that Botswana is open to collaborative opportunities, “particularly with identifiable partners such as Virginia Tech, in other essential areas such as conservation, and the study of the interplay among the ecology of diseases of wild animals and plants, and their effects on human health and socio-economic development.”
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Gov’t commit to injecting more funds in fighting HIV
Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng says government will continue to make resources available in terms of financial allocations and human capital to ensure that Botswana achieves the ideal of eradicating HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Morwaeng was speaking this morning in Gaborone at the High-Level Advocacy event to accelerate HIV Prevention in Botswana. He said the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAPHA), in partnership with UNAIDS, UN agencies, the Global Fund and PEPFAR, have started a process of developing transition readiness plan for sustainability of HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
“It is important for us, as a country that has had a fair share of donor support in the response to an epidemic such as HIV and AIDS, to look beyond the period when the level of assistance would have reduced, or ceased, thus calling for domestic financing for all areas which were on donor support.”
Morwaeng said this is important as the such a plan will guarantee that all the gains accrued from the response with donor support will be sustained until the end when “we reach the elimination of HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 20230,” he said.
“I commit to continue support efforts towards strengthened HIV prevention, accentuating HIV primary prevention and treatment as prevention towards Zero New Infections, Zero Stigma, Discrimination and Zero AIDS related death, to end AIDS in Botswana.”
He reiterated that government commits to tackle legislative, policy and programming challenges that act as barriers to the achievement of the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
In the financial year 2022/2023, a total of 119 Civil Society Organizations, including Faith Based Organizations, were contracted with an amount of P100 million to implement HIV and NCDs prevention activities throughout the country, and the money was drawn from the Consolidated Fund.
Through an upcoming HIV Prevention Symposium, technical stakeholders will use outcomes to develop the Botswana HIV Prevention Acceleration Road Map for 2023-2025.
Morwaeng stated that government will support and ensure that Botswana plays its part achieving the road map. He said there is need to put hands on the deck to ensure that Botswana sustains progress made so far in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
“There are tremendous achievements thus far to, reach and surpass the UNAIDS fast track targets of 95%- 95%- 95% by the year 2025. As reflected by the BAIS preliminary results of 2021, we now stand at 95- 98- 98 against the set targets.”
“These achievements challenge us to now shift our gears and strive to know who are the remaining 5% for those aware of their HIV status, 2% of enrolment on treatment by those aware of their status and 2% of viral suppression by those on treatment.”
Explaining this further, Morwaeng said shift in gears should extend to coming up with robust strategies of determining where these remaining people are as well as how they will be reached with the necessary services.
“These are just some of the many variables that are required to ensure that as a country, we are well positioned to reaching the last mile of our country’s response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.”