07 Apr 2016

The Botswana Police Service (BPS) has formulated a drug enforcement strategy as a measure to fight the rampant use of illegal drugs, the defence minister, Mr Shaw Kgathi, told Parliament on Wednesday. Mr Kgathi said the strategy specifically entailed community outreach targeting potential victims in schools, tertiary institutions and out-of-school youth, addressing kgotla meetings and collaboration with non-governmental organisations.

The strategy also entailed extensive use of media as a tool of campaign against drug abuse; inter-agency collaboration between police and other security agencies; sharing of information with law enforcement agencies from neighbouring countries; and deployment of police officers at all ports of entry to prevent drugs from entering the country.

He said BPS had also improved the resourcing of the Narcotics, Fauna and Flora Investigation Unit which was established in 2013 so as to cope with the increasing challenges of drug abuse and trafficking. He further said, over and above, the Botswana Prisons and Rehabilitation has come up with initiatives aimed at drug abuse targeted at convicted offenders with a history of drug abuse with the aim of winning and rehabilitating convicts from drug abuse.

The minister said the other initiative related to visiting schools by the department under ‘’My Career my Future’’ programme, which is implemented in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture.

Mr Kgathi was answering Ramotswa MP, Mr Samuel Rantuana, who had asked as to what measures were in place to improve or step up the fight against the rampant use of illegal drugs that have found their way into the community including schools and why these matters could not be treated the same way as alcohol abuse or even better. Ends