09 Mar 2016

The comparison of prison officers, police officers and members of the Botswana Defence Force salaries and benefits is improper because the departments are different from each other with distinct mandates and governed by different statutes.

Answering a question in Parliament on Tuesday, the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security Mr Shaw Kgathi said the pay and related packages were specific to each because they were never meant to be the same.

In that contest each department’s salaries are graded independent of each, taking into account their respective uniqueness, scope of work and related risks. 

He therefore said the issues of disparities and discrimination did not arise.

In addition, Mr Kgathi told the House that his ministry, in view to address each department’s pay challenges, engaged consultants to undertake a comprehensive review of the pay structure and conditions of service for the Botswana Prisons Service, Botswana Police Service and BDF.

He said the consultants were experts in pay structures and benefits analysis, with experience in particular functional areas.

He however assured the House that he would be taking the findings and recommendations for cabinet consideration this month, whose outcome should certainly address, among others, the persistent concerns about the remuneration of prison officers.

MP for Francistown East Mr Buti Billy had asked the minister why there was disparity with respect to certain cadres in his ministry with particular reference to the Botswana Police, BDF and Botswana Prison Service, where there was invariably a huge salary gap amongst officers within those departments.

He had also asked the minister if he was aware that prison wardens, as compared to their counterparts in the army and police, were paid very low salaries, notwithstanding the fact that they performed equally demanding and sometimes more dangerous tasks including exposure to daily risks of being harmed by hardcore criminals with whom they interact and deal with on daily basis. Ends