Over 600 Police officers caught with fake licenses
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A shocking detection by the Crime Intelligence Branch (CRIB) has uncovered and ensured that at least 600 police officers are under investigation for having fake driver’s licenses while others were nabbed on their way to acquire them through the dubious formula, WeekendPost can reveal.
While the matter is still under investigation, this publication has been made aware that a lot of these incidents happen at Otse Police College. This is where police recruits do their training and orientation before they become full members of the uniform. However, what is puzzling the mind is for them to be contradicting their very own vision and mission by by-passing the laid down process and procedure of acquiring the driving licenses.
At the College, the Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS) has an accredited instructor who helps to assist recruits and police officers to acquire the licenses. Investigations by this publication shows that the instructor (names known to this publication) has been dishing licenses as he pleases. Following the CRIB operation to uncover this, the instructor has been suspended as investigations continue. A fortnight ago following the operation over 600 cops were caught with licenses that were not properly acquired. According to informants the suspects were detained in various prisons and were later discharged.
“However investigations are still ongoing as the CRIB is working hand in hand with DRTS to establish the root course,” highlights a source within the police enclave. The long-time accredited instructor is said to have been allowing everyone to proceed to the next stage of training despite failing. “If you fail the cones, you just talk to him and offer a kickback then he will mark that you have passed. Same thing on the next stage if you plead, he listens then you are good to go. He then sends the name of all who passes to Gaborone and the officials there just take names as they are and book for another stage,” one of those who benefitted from this has revealed.
He continued; “Not only that, it was possible for one to get EC license without Class B or soon thereafter despite the known process. After detection he has been suspended.” Police investigations have revealed at least one in every three heavy duty and extra heavy duty drivers on Botswana roads may be using counterfeit licenses. An official from DRTS confirmed to this publication that indeed the police are investigating the matter.
“As the department, we only deal with them (police) for verification through our records unit to see when and how the license was acquired, and if it was properly taken, but the criminality is for the police to say,” an official who fielded this publication’s enquiries said.
The official preferred masking, as the relevant authorities to answer were outside the country and are not expected anytime soon. Continued the official: “We have dispersed our instructors to various stations including Otse College, the only undoing is we are limited and cannot investigate.”
In terms of the numbers of the accused, the official was not in a position to reveal. Meanwhile reports say this problem does not only implicate the police but some members of the disciplined forces [soldiers and warders] were also held in their holding cells as this occurrence seems to be rampant.
A total of 42 cases of fake drivers’ licenses have been recorded countrywide from 2016 to date. It is further understood that the illicit selling and acquiring of drivers’ licenses have a direct bearing on road accidents and research indicates an increase in both recorded accidents and deaths and the number keeps swelling.
According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) data published in 2017, Road Traffic Accidents Deaths in Botswana reached 475 of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 22.23 per 100,000 of population, and ranks Botswana number 71 in the world.
The Health Data used is published by WHO, World Bank and the United Nations.
In 2016, further research indicated that a total number of 18 373 road accidents were recorded in the country as compared to 17 654 the preceding year (2015). In terms of fatalities, a total of 450 people died in road crashes in 2016 as compared to 411 in 2015. Weekendpost could not however find any information linking the road accidents to the fake licensed drivers.
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Local tennis team upbeat ahead of Billie Jean King cup
With almost two weeks until the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup, which will be staged in Kenya from June 12-17, 2023, the Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) ladies’ team coach, Ernest Seleke, is optimistic about reaching greater heights.
Billie Jean King Cup, or the BJK Cup, is a premier international team competition in women’s tennis, launched as the Federation Cup to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The BJK Cup is the world’s largest annual women’s international team sports competition in terms of the number of nations that compete.
The finals will feature 12 teams (Botswana, Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo) competing in the four round-robin groups of three. The four group winners will qualify for the semifinals, and the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup will be crowned after the completion of the knockout phase.
Closer to home, the BW Tennis team is comprised of Thato Madikwe, Leungo Monnayoo, Chelsea Chakanyuka, and Kelebogile Monnayoo. However, according to Seleke, they have not assembled the team yet as some of the players are still engaged.
“At the moment, we are depending on the players and their respective coaches in terms of training. However, I will meet up with Botswana-based players in the coming week, while the United States of America (USA) based player Madikwe will probably meet us in Kenya. Furthermore, Ekua Youri and Naledi Raguin, who are based in Spain and France respectively, will not be joining us as they will be writing their examinations,” said Seleke.
Seleke further highlighted the significance of this competition and how competitive it is. “It is a massive platform for our players to showcase their talent in tennis, and it is very competitive as countries target to get promoted to the world categories where they get to face big nations such as Spain, France, USA, and Italy. Though we are going to this tournament as underdogs because it is our second time participating, I’m confident that the girls will put in a good showing and emerge with results despite the odds,” highlighted Seleke.
Quizzed about their debut performance at the BJK Cup, he said, “I think our performance was fair considering the fact that we were newbies. We came third in our group after losing to North Macedonia and South Africa. We went on to beat Uganda, then Kenya in the playoffs. Unfortunately, we couldn’t play Burundi due to heavy rainfall and settled for the position 9/10,” he said.
For her part, team representative Leungo Monnayoo said they are working hard as they aim to do well at the tourney. “The preparations for the tourney have long begun because we practice each and every day. We want to do well, hence we need to be motivated. Furthermore, I believe in my team as we have set ourselves a big target of coming home with the trophy,” she said.
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Pep Stores donates sanitary towels to Popagano JSS
The Guidance and Counseling unit at Popagano Junior Secondary School received a donation of 790 sanitary towels from Pep stores on Thursday.
When presenting the donation, Mareledi Thebeng, the Dinokaneng Area Manager, highlighted their belief in giving back to the community, as their existence depends on the communities they serve. Thebeng pointed out that research indicates one in four girls miss school every day due to the lack of basic necessities like sanitary towels. Therefore, as a company, they strive to assist in alleviating this situation. She expressed hope that this donation would help ensure uninterrupted learning for girls.
Upon receiving the donation on behalf of the students, Charity Sambire, the President of the Student Representative Council, expressed her gratitude. Sambire specifically thanked Pep Store for their generous gift, speaking on behalf of the students, especially the girl child.
She conveyed their sincere appreciation for Pep Store’s compassion and quoted the adage, “Blessed is the hand that gives.” Sambire expressed the students’ hope for Pep Stores’ prosperity, enabling them to continue supporting the students. As a gesture of gratitude, the students pledged to excel academically.
During her speech, Motlalepula Madome, the Senior Teacher in Guidance and Counseling, highlighted that many students at the school come from disadvantaged backgrounds where parents struggle to provide basic necessities. Consequently, some students miss school when they experience menstruation due to this lack.
Madome emphasized the significance of the donation in preventing the girl child from missing lessons and its potential to improve the school’s overall results. She expressed the school’s gratitude and expressed a desire for continued support from Pep Stores.
Popagano Junior Secondary School, situated in the Okavango District, holds the second position academically in the North West region. Despite its location, the school has been dedicated to achieving excellence since 2017
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Botswana misses out critical PAP committee meeting
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) committee on gender, family, youth and people with disability in its sitting considered, adopted and recommended to the plenary session the preliminary report on the framework for the model law on gender equality.
According to the last week’s media release from PAP which is sitting with its various committees until June 2nd, the committee is following up the PAP initiative to draw up a model law on gender equality to enable national governments to harmonize, modernize and standardize their legislations to address local needs is set to be discussed in Plenary.
However, what is concerning is the fact that Botswana which is a member state missed the deliberations. Kgosi Mosadi Seboko who sat in the committee representing Botswana has since been ejected by parliament and this is a huge blow for a nation that is still battling equity and gender balance.
“Although PAP has no legislative powers it makes model laws for member states to adopt. PAP also develops protocols to be ratified by countries. The input of countries at Committee state is extremely critical. It now means the voice of Botswana is missing the discussions leading up to development of protocols or model laws,” said one of Botswana’s representative at PAP Dr. Kesitegile Gobotswang who is attending the current session.
While Botswana is missing, the committee meeting took place on the sidelines of the Sixth PAP second ordinary Session being held under the African Union Theme of the Year for 2023, “The Year of AfCFTA: Accelerating the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area” in Midrand, South Africa and will run up to 2 June 2023. Chairperson of the Committee, Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala expressed satisfaction with preliminary processes undertaken so far towards the formulation of the Model Law,” a release from the PAP website reads.
“The law should be suitable to all countries whatever the predominant culture or religion is. The aim is to give an opportunity to women to participate in the economic, political and social development of the continent. Women are not well positioned and face a lot of obstacles. We are introducing the idea of equity in the Law because we cannot talk about equality without equity,” said Hon Mariam Dao-Gabala in the press statement.
The release has stated that among issues to be covered by the Model Law is the migratory movements of women. The Committee proffered that this has to be addressed at the continental level to ensure that migrant women enjoy all their rights and live with dignity in their destination country. The members of the Gender Committee undertook consultations to consolidate the contributions of the various stakeholders that will be the logical framework format for the Model Law.