18 Oct 2018

 Government engaged in extensive consultation with the relevant experts prior to disarming the Department of Wildlife and National Parks game rangers, President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi has said.

Speaking during a kgotla meeting where he updated Serowe residents on his road map anchored on consultation and respect of the rule of law, Dr Masisi said the guns in question were not held legally.

The police commissioner had therefore confiscated the arms and stored them in a safer place until the right procedures of acquiring such were followed. He said in an unfortunate incident that such artillery could be used on anyone, users of the guns would be defenseless before the courts of law. 

As such, the president said, he took corrective measures upon advice.

In addition,  Dr Masisi pointed out that the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) was the best in anti-poaching. 

He said the BDF was working in conjunction with Botswana Police Service and Directorate of Intelligence and Security to ensure that natural resources were in safe custody.

Regarding the recent allegations of the slaughter of  87 elephants, President Masisi said those who fed western media the untruths about poaching in Botswana wanted to link poaching to disarming of rangers might have had their own agenda.

President Masisi reiterated that those who reported the sensational killings of elephants could not corroborate their claims when taken to the sites. 

He said on the first day only 10 elephant carcasses were spotted followed by nine the  next day saying according to the findings, some of the corpses, still had their tusks intact.

In other cases, he said, evidence showed that the tusks were removed by relevant government officers while some elephants were observed to have been killed a long time ago.

On other issues, Dr Masisi said he and his cabinet had vowed to be a united front in being a government that consulated people on how best they could be served. 

In discharging their duties, cabinet and senior government officials are said to have agreed to conduct their business by nurturing inclusive governance whilst simultaneously encouraging respect of the rule of law. 

His government, Dr Masisi said, would ensure that it removed impediments towards doing business and also open borders for investors so they could create employment for Batswana. 

The president also said in addition to encouraging investors to come do business in Botswana, it was incumbent upon his government to ensure that employment creation was a priority. 

Dr Masisi  also expressed concern about the slow implementation and quality of internal roads in the villages well as their carrying capacity. 

 He said he was disappointed that the roads were not a true reflection of what he had earlier promised the people of Serowe. 

For her part,Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi attributed the delays to some protracted court cases pertaining to tenders for the roads in question. 

She said observations were that specifications had not been met and in many cases some of the awarding of tenders smelt of bias while in others investigations had to be carried out.

Earlier, the Serowe umbrella Village Development Committee chairperson Mr Geelwe Kennekae had told the president that Ipelegeng was overwhelmed by soaring numbers of those seeking temporary relief.

In some instances, the VDC chairperson said, students too sought to be enrolled during school holidays despite being underage. 

He also appealed to the president to create employment so that the youth could be meaningfully engaged. ENDS