22 Feb 2015

The Commissioner of Botswana Police Service (BPS), Mr Keabetswe Makgophe recently launched the anti-corruption strategy during the senior officer’s annual conference at SSG Band Wing Hall in Gaborone.

Mr Makgophe said the strategy elaborates on how the BPS intends to deal with police corruption and also seeks to provide standards of ethics.

He also stated that the strategy discusses issues of preventive measures, education and training on anti-corruption initiatives as well as monitoring and evaluation of the initiatives.

“It is my sincere believe that this document will be the yardstick by which we will be able to gauge our performance and instill confidence in our customers and stakeholders on the way we serve them,” he said.

Mr Makgophe reminded all senior officers that early detection of corruption was critical as it minimises the potential damage that might occur.

 “We should always closely monitor all our processes and be proactive in closing any gaps available for corruption to occur,” he said. The commissioner of police also reminded the community to refrain from enticing police officers to engage in corrupt practices.

He noted that ‘some members of the public still do not understand that when you bribe a police officer, you are equally guilty of corruption’. 

“This is wrong and should be discouraged at all costs because it has the potential to dent the good image of the organisation as well as the country,” he said.

Mr Makgophe said to facilitate easy reporting of corruption by both the internal and external customers, ‘We have installed a corruption prevention hotline and toll free number at the Botswana Police Internal Unit, which are available 24/7.”

The hotline and toll free numbers are 392 7623 and 0800 601 008 respectively.

He urged all members of the public to take full advantage of this development to assist police officers in uprooting corruption. ENDS