25 Aug 2014

Government is working round the clock to prevent acts of terrorism, therefore it is upon every Motswana to guard themselves so that they do not become victims, Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso has said.

Addressing a kgotla meeting recently, Ms Tshireletso said terrorism continued to pose a major threat to peace and security in Botswana. She pointed out that acts of terrorism included, among other things, human trafficking, illicit fire arms and drug trafficking saying they were mostly communicated through social networks.

Ms Tshireletso, also Mahalapye East legislator, urged Batswana to be cautious at all times especially when looking for employment opportunities or when they wanted to further their education and when looking for marriage partners through the use of social media.

She said some people get associated with terrorism especially on the net unknowingly, adding that some desperate people were exploited and end up enduring unimaginable hardships in their bid for a better life.

She said women and the girl-child were at risk as they were normally falsely recruited to be used for brothel services and drug trafficking, while the boy-child would be used in illicit firearms where they were taught to kill without mercy.

As a result, she stated that the implementation of the counter terrorism legislation would assist into bringing order as wrong-doers would be charged P500 000 or not less than 25 years in jail if found guilty.

On other issues, Ms Tshireletso asked Batswana to be thoughtful on issues pertaining to HIV/AIDS, saying the scourge continued to affect many Batswana. She stated that the number of people infected with HIV continued to increase despite government efforts on HIV education.

She said having multiple partners was the main contributor to new infections and urged Batswana to stick to one partner.  He said it was embarrassing that new infection of HIV continued to rise in Botswana, while in other countries statistics were declining; therefore, she called upon Batswana to change their attitude. Ends