11 Aug 2019

Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Nonofo Molefhi says the cultivation of a culture of corrupt free, integrity and responsible nation can only be achieved through the old Setswana adage that lore lo ojwa le sale metsi.     

  To this end, he said the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) in conjunction with the Ministry of Basic Education (MoBE) infused anti-corruption topics into the syllabi of both primary and junior secondary schools. 

He said the DCEC had partnered with Botswana Social Studies Association (BOSSA) to sponsor debates on issues of corruption. He noted that the directorate went further to publish the first edition of Boammaruri Children Magazine on anti-corruption in May 2018 whose aim was to fight corruption by building integrity and good character in children around Botswana. Through the magazine, the anti-corruption message was relayed in an easy, conversational and appealing format. The magazine has been distributed for reading by upper primary school leaners in all primary schools in Botswana, both government and privately owned schools.

He stated that the DCEC also introduced the Boammaruri mascot through which the directorate reached out to children, especially those at lower primary schools by raising awareness on anti-corruption matters through nurturing a value system that could reverse the prevailing tendencies towards materialism. He said the mascot initiative was started by the DECE in recognition of the fact that the only way corruption could be rooted out in Botswana and elsewhere in Africa was “if we teach our children to recognise it, reject it and condemn it.” The main aim of the mascot was to inculcate the values of honesty, responsibility, hard-work, patriotism and integrity as a way of building children’s character and shaping their destiny.

The MP for Francistown East, Mr Buti Billy had asked how a culture of a corrupt free, integrity and responsible nation was cultivated.

Still in Parliament, Mr Molefhi said the directorate, through corruption prevention committees in public institutions/organisations and community anti-corruption clubs undertake periodic awareness campaigns on anti-corruption teaching public employees and the public respectively on the evils of corruption and how to avoid being caught in the web of corruption.

The directorate, he said, also undertook corruption risk management trainings which were meant to capacitate public institutions on carrying out corruption risk assessment as well as develop corruption risk registers in their various business areas (such as procurement, human resource management, contract management, licensing and permits, finance management etc.) to recognise their vulnerabilities and provide mitigation or control strategies. Additionally, he said the DCEC had also collaborated with the Botswana Public Service College on an anti-corruption programme which aimed at providing  leadership awareness training on corruption prevention across the public sector.

He said there was also training provided for corruption prevention committees which assisted public institutions in streamlining anti-corruption in government ministries and departments. Some of the latest trainings were held in Selebi Phikwe, South Africa, Pretoria, (Botswana High Commission), Otse,  Maun, Mahalapye, Kasane and Ghanzi to name but a few.

Mr Molefhi said to augment efforts, the directorate had facilitated the establishment of anti-corruption units in various ministries to conduct transactions monitoring and preliminary inquiries. The DCEC has over the years, undertaken anti-corruption audits in various public institutions to identify opportunities for corruption or loopholes in processes, procedures, policies of such institutions and recommended measures to close the gaps. Some of the areas that had been covered included infrastructure development, agriculture, property sales and staff housing, contract management, procurement, human resource management, education bye-law operations, allocation of land.

Francistown East legislator, Mr Billy had wanted to know if there was any training directed towards ending corruption, and whether there were any structures or platforms in place to aid ending corruption across government and the private sector. ENDS