02 Dec 2020

Government has intensified stakeholder collaboration and engagement for border control and management in the aftermath of the travel restrictions occasioned by COVID-19.

Responding to the State-of-the-Nation Address on Tuesday, Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi said following the outbreak of the pandemic all ports of entry and exit as well as airports with the exception of 10 border posts were closed.

Ms Mokgethi, who is also Gaborone Bonnington North MP, explained that government had since decided to ease movement restrictions of persons, goods and services in a phased manner by opening some of the borders.

“This is informed by the need to resume trans-border operations that will drive socio-economic activity whilst also mitigating the risk of the pandemic. This is especially important along borders whereby the nearest port of entry that was operational was hundreds of kilometres away from communities,” she said.

Ms Mokgethi said her ministry would continue its collaboration with other stakeholders in the upgrading of ports of entry to one-stop border posts. She said in addition to the Kazungula one-stop border post, her ministry was participating in negotiations for the establishment of one-stop border posts at Ramokgwebana, Mamuno and Tlokweng ports of entry in a bid to operationalise them.

On immigration, Ms Mokgethi noted that her ministry was responsible for facilitating persons to acquire Botswana citizenship or renouncing of foreign citizenship and Botswana citizenship.

“The process of acquiring Botswana citizenship entails that once the minister has made a decision to grant citizenship the affected persons have to renounce their foreign citizenship. The person has to submit a declaration or renunciation of the foreign citizenship to the respective embassy,” she added.

She said the foreign country had to effect the renunciation and issue a renunciation certificate as proof that the affected persons had ceased to be its citizen. 

She said upon receipt of the renunciation certificate immigration officials would subject the person to taking an oath of allegiance and then issue a citizenship certificate.

She noted that Botswana was among the few countries in Africa that had an e-passport. 

She said every citizen of Botswana could apply for a national passport while the official passport was issued to a certain category of citizens such as councillors and members of Ntlo-ya-Dikgosi.

She said a diplomatic passport was issued to categories of persons as might be determined by the Ministry of International Affairs in collaboration with the Office of the President. She said civil and national registration services such as Omang, change of names, registration, solemnisation of marriages and registration of societies had been restored in compliance with COVID-19 protocols.  ends