02 Feb 2015

The Minster of Labour and Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Batshu says government is highly concerned by the number of foreigners who are found in possession of Omang cards.

Addressing a kgotla meeting in Hukuntsi on January 30, Mr Batshu said it still remained a mystery how national identity cards ended up in the hands of foreigners some of whom were illegal immigrants.

He said even though some foreigners used lost cards, it was disturbing to note that some citizens, however might be conniving with foreigners to perform such unlawful acts. He therefore urged residents to report such acts to law enforcement officers.

He encouraged Hukuntsi residents to value the importance of an Omang card and the civil liberties that one could have access to when in possession of a valid Omang card.

Government, the minister said, had empowerment programmes and schemes all geared towards uplifting livelihoods of citizenry which were only accessible when one has a valid Omang card hence pleaded with residents to ensure the safe keeping of ID cards.

He also indicated that Botswana passports were also in the past recovered from people of different nationalities who mostly obtained them unlawfully. He stated that the use of Botswana passports by foreigners has compelled his ministry to change the system governing the issuance of the passports and improve some security topographies in order to improve their authenticity.

Mr Batshu said it was a great concern that some Batswana were selling their passports to foreigners for large sums of money and later applied for new ones with the knowledge that new passport application fees were little.

“A lot of Botswana passports were used in all kinds of criminal acts therefore it was only fitting to find measures on how best to remedy the situation,” he said. He stated that it was imperative for the public to know that a passport remained government property and therefore should be handled with honour.

On other issues, Minister Batshu warned the residents to refrain from employing illegal immigrants particularly at farms and cattle posts as the practice was unlawful and punishable by law.

Meanwhile, Kgosi Molaodi Leipego of Hukuntsi complained of the status of the department of Immigration offices in his village, saying the structure was dilapidated and small.

He therefore, pleaded with the Minister to try secure funds to build new office blocks and provide officers with vehicles since there were currently operating without one. ENDS