01 Aug 2019

The Registrar of the Botswana Veterinary Surgeons Council, Dr Kobedi Segale has appealed to farmers to report any suspicious illegal practices of veterinary services or any misconduct concerning provision of veterinary services to his council.

In an interview with BOPA recently, Dr Segale said the Botswana Veterinary Surgeons Council, which is a statutory regulatory body, established under the Botswana Veterinary Surgeons Act, would investigate alleged illegal practicing reports before taking the normal prosecuting route.

“…we will investigate it and take it to the police with enough evidence,” he said, adding that if it is a report of misconduct and involves their member; the council would institute appropriate action after investigating. He said regardless of action taken, the aggrieved clients would be given feedback. The registrar emphasised that their members should always display their practicing certificates and farmers are always free to verify with the council whether one is registered or not.

Dr Segale said the council is ready to serve and protect farmers, adding that Batswana should only seek assistance from veterinary professionals, particularly veterinary surgeons, who are registered with the council. Currently, he said there are about 200 registered veterinary surgeons, revealing that they have not started registering veterinary paraprofessionals.

He said there are incidents where farmers, especially farmers along the country’s boundaries, engage professionals from across the border, which he said was illegal, because they are not registered with the council.

Dr Segale said for one to practice and register in Botswana, s/he should be resident in Botswana, except where there is special and temporary dispensation due to compelling circumstances.

Dealing with cross border cases, he said is not easy, but he said they usually write to their counterparts from the concerned country to take action on who is at fault. “We need to improve, maybe to take advantage of Interpol…,” he said, adding that during conversations with farmers, they sometimes also establish that they had engaged unregistered persons at one point.

Dr Segale regretted that some practitioners go beyond their scope, indicating that veterinary paraprofessionals, who are yet to be registered, have limited scope.

He stated that to be registered one should have gone through recognised training, of acceptable conduct and once registered, one should comply with the set regulations.

He conceded that farmers are not aware of their services, saying they did not conduct enough public awareness due to shortage of resources. Nonetheless, he said they have developed a strategic plan to intensify awareness of their mandate. ENDS