12 Mar 2019

The  Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) intends making regular visits to religious institutions to sensitise them on corruption related matters as they are evidently not immune to the scourge. 

This was disclosed by DCEC Director General Bruce Paledi who said there was evidence of corrupt practices within churches.

“As we are an oversight institution, we are duty bound to work against any intentions by individuals aiming to deceive Batswana of their hard earned valuables for their own enrichment,” he said.

Speaking after a 10-kilometre fundraising walk organised by the Loologa branch of the United Congregation Church of Southern Arica (UCCSA) in Molepolole recently,  Mr Paledi called on churches to guard against corrupt practices.

Churches, he said, had a role to play in rooting out corruption reportedly rife in most faith-based organisations.  

He advised congregants to aggressively scrutinise individuals coming with large amounts of money to entice them which could result in shady characters influencing the way things were run.

Mr Paledi said investigating corruption was an extremely formidable and expensive undertaking and therefore called for vigilantce to guard against such occurrences and reduce emerging cases.     

“Some ‘white collar’ corrupt individuals are likely to take advantage of the fact that running of churches requires funds, therefore it is upon you to be vigilant and jealously guard against your reputations that are likely to be ruined by people with sinister motives,” he said.

 Mr Paledi emphasised the need for congregants to be extra cautious and guard against being used to clean dirty money.

He said it was important to prevent or root out corruption before it negatively impacted on developmental undertakings and ultimately to a decline in the country’s economic growth. 

Church elder and former police commissioner, Mr Thebeyame Tsimako expressed gratitude for the DCEC’s intention to empower churches to fight corruption. 

The message, he said would help them to be extra cautious and guard against any plans to deceive the church. 

Another speaker, Mr Monare Lechiile thanked DCEC for the support the organisation always extended to the church.

About the church project, he said although it was behind schedule, he was optimistic it would eventually be completed.  

He a number of initiatives, would be employed to raise funds to complement the support from donors. ENDS