06 Jun 2021

 Botswana Police Service (BPS) commissioner, Mr Keabetswe Makgophe has lauded the people of Mmandunyane in the Tonota Sub-district for a few incidents of Gender Based Violence (GBV) recorded in the village.

Commissioner Makgophe made the remarks on Friday at an occasion to hand over a house donated by BPS to a less privileged family in Mmandunyane as part of the police service Corporate Social Responsibility.

In what he perceived as a rare occurrence in a country plagued with gruesome incidents of GBV, the police chief stated that the village had had a single case of rape since the beginning of the year and a couple of minor incidents among them indecent assault.

If the current statistics were anything to go by, Commissioner Makgophe submitted Mmandunyane was best suited for the police to draw nuggets of wisdom in the fight against GBV and related social ills.

He said, however, that there were alarming fighting incidents that were on the rise in the village that needed to be dealt away with as a matter of urgency, lest they spilled over into other forms of abuse.

Also, the police commissioner pleaded with the rest of the nation to desist from defeating the ends of justice by withdrawing Gender Based Violence cases reported to the police.

“Let us allow the law to take its course because sweeping such matters under the carpet contravenes the law,” he said.

That being the case, the commissioner gave Number 1 District police officers a pat on the back for demonstrating a sense of commitment to BPS mission on community service.

“You built this house without putting police headquarters under undue pressure.

Now let us go back to the drawing board and see pockets of need within the community that we serve that need our attention,” he said.

He also pledged BPS would give the builder of the house, Mr Mooketsi Setlhare, who volunteered his services to construct the two-bed roomed house free of charge, P3 000 as a thank you gesture.

Divisional Commander North, Senior Assistant Commissioner Cynthia Setilo, who gave an overview of the project, was ecstatic that the initiative had finally come an end.

She said it took a lot of sacrifice, patience and will power of officers and stakeholders alike to have finished the project, which gobbled well over P200 000.

The beneficiary, Ms Kgalalelo Gaalaiwe was lost for words when asked what the gesture meant for her and her 11 children. 

“I am happy the house will provide us with the warmth that we need and spare us the ravage of harsh weather,” she said before rushing on to the white marque that was erected in front of her brand new house and used as an assembly point by a few that graced the event.

Area MP, Mr Pono Moatlhodi did not only grace the event, but was privileged to also plant a mango tree within the Gaalaiwe yardENDS