10 Jul 2014

The Member of Parliament of Mahalapye West, Mr Bernard Bolele has implored government to consider employing specialised personnel in the Botswana police who could handle investigations on complex crimes.

Contributing to the Forensic Procedures Bill 2014 (No 13 of 2014) in Parliament on July 9, Mr Bolele said such specialists could only be attracted if government committed itself to paying attractive salaries.

He said the Botswana police was lagging behind in attracting skilled personnel as compared to its sister institutions in the disciplined forces. 

Mr Bolele also called for government to consider engaging private laboratories in order to effect efficiency and speed in specimen analysis, and said this will also attract Batswana who have not been absorbed into the workforce to open private laboratories.

He said at the moment, Botswana sends specimen to South Africa which is analyzed in private laboratories, which then justifies why local private laboratories should be given a chance.

The member of parliament of Kanye North, Mr Kentse Rammidi also supported the Bill, but said the current trend in which police officers do general police work without specialization means they will not be able to acquire relevant experience over the years.

He said forensic issues need high expertise, and also called on the minister to ensure that the Bill also covers investigations in livestock as DNA can come in handy in tracing the origins of stolen animals.

The Member of Parliament for Tonota South, Mr Pono Moatlhodi also rose to support the Bill, but was however, concerned that the Bill states that a person has the right to refuse to give a specimen when required, and said suspects should instead be forced to give such specimen on requirement

.The Member of Parliament for Gaborone North, Mr Keletso Rakhudu said the absence of such a bill has been making the job of police officers a challenge, and said in the era of  technological advancement, criminals can easily use the available technology to temper with investigation findings.

He said the Bill will therefore help in achieving the highest degree of accuracy possible.

Responding to comments, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Dikgakgamatso Seretse said equipment and training of police officers will be provide to ensure that officers operate with few challenges. He said a court order can be sort in cases of suspects who unreasonably refuse to provide specimen on requirement. 

Mr Seretse said specialization already exist in police service, but said because police officers have been trained in general police work, they are sometimes engaged to assist outside their units of specialization when they are not held up.

On extending the Bill to cover stock theft investigation, Mr Seretse said such may be catered for in the future, but said at the moment the focus is only on human forensic material.ENDS