21 Feb 2016

 Many police officers live in rented houses because of shortage of accommodation in police campuses, says the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Shaw Kgathi.

The minister noted that the challenge of shortage of accommodation was not peculiar to junior police officers in Kanye alone.

He said in recognition of the accommodation challenge faced by police officers, the government has introduced allowances to alleviate living hardships experienced by the affected officers.

“I would agree that in most cases the said allowances which are paid to officers who stay outside campuses do not adequately cover housing, water and electricity bills. However, the allowances are subsidies and were never meant to compensate 100 per cent the actual costs incurred,” Mr Kgathi said.

The minister said every member of Botswana Police Service was equally treated, and that in terms of comfort, the living conditions of officers inside and outside police campuses have unique challenges.

The MP for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile had asked the minister if he was aware that some junior police officers in Kanye residing off camp have to cover their own costs for water, power and rentals that were generally around P1 000 a month compared to those on camp who get free housing, water and P200 for power every month.

The MP said the 15 percent of salary as housing allowance, the 30 per cent claim on water bill and 30 per cent claim from P200 set for electricity and the stoppage of the house upkeep allowance do not help them afford a decent living. Ends