23 May 2016

The Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) director, Ms Rose Seretse, says her institution made strides in the fight against corruption.

Therefore other countries continued to visit Botswana for  benchmarking purposes.

Ms Seretse told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday that Botswana had been listed among the list corrupt countries.

In 2014, she said, seven countries visited Botswana to benchmark on how the country fights corruption. 

She pointed out that corruption had become sophisticated and complex and had devastating results to both individuals and the society.

DCEC has a team of officers who work together on complex issues and had also partnered with other departments to combat crime such as Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Information Technology and Road Transport and Safety. 

Ms Seretse also reassured the public that there were mechanisms in place to protect DCEC informers and that all investigation matters were treated with outmost confidentiality. 

She promised informers that their safety was guaranteed and encouraged them to continue with the good job of reporting corruption, saying “prevention is better that cure”.

Meanwhile, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ms Shenaaz El-Halabi admitted that there were challenges of accommodation for health services personnel especially doctors.

Ms El-Halabi, however, said the ministry would build 734 houses for health personnel.

She told PAC that ministry still faced challenges of resignations by doctors at an alarming rate, adding that the government had sent out a team for benchmarking purposes on how to retain doctors.

Regarding transportation, Ms El-Halabi said they were getting a replacement of all boarded vehicles, most being ambulances. About 200 vehicles needed replacement to alleviate transport shortage challenges. 

Ms El-Halabi also said overcrowding at Princess Marina Hospital was caused by some patients who go to the referral hospital when they were not supposed to. 

She stated that such patients could get assistance from other health facilities in and around Gaborone. She however said they would continue educating communities on the issue. ENDS