06 Feb 2022

 Members of Parliament have welcomed the amendments to the Criminal Procedures and Evidence (Controlled Investigations) Bill.
Gaborone South legislator, Mr Dumezwini Mthimkhulu said the amendment would enable government to investigate complex criminal activities.

He said only criminals should fear the proposed Bill as only their communication would be intercepted by investigators.
He said it was a wise move for the country to have a law regulating interception of communication and undercover operations, where investigating officers use fake or assumed identities.
Under the changes, criminal investigators have to apply to the High Court before they intercept communication and also to apply for fake identity documents.

Mr Mthimkhulu allayed fears that the pseudo names and identities would be used for nonchalant activities such as voting several times in the national elections as any investigator involved in the use of fake ID for other activities could face imprisonment or a P10 000 fine.

For his part, MP Fidelis Molao of Shashe West welcomed the Bill, saying the country had to abide by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to avoid being grey listed as it negatively affected the economy.
He said the assumed names or fake identities were used globally to investigate terrorism and money laundering cases.
MP Molao said Batswana should not be worried as only communication of suspects would be intercepted.

He lambasted the opposition for raising a false alarm, explaining that the privacy of the citizens  would not be infringed through the proposed amendment Bill.
MP Caterpillar Hikuama of Ngami said the circumstances behind the Bill caused confusion as it was tabled under a certificate of urgency, hence the public was not consulted.
He said there had been cases where evidence was fabricated, giving an example of where people were accused of stealing P100 billion from government coffers although the country never had such amount in its account.

MP Hikuama applauded the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi for listening to Batswana and making appropriate changes.
He said the Bill, as initially proposed, faced opposition as it did not provide oversight institutions.

Before the changes, investigating officers were going to be free to intercept communications without a warrant from any authority.
He said Batswana were already living in fear under the Directorate of Intelligence Security Services.

Gaborone Bonnington North MP, Ms Annah Mokgethi also supported the Bill, saying it addressed the deficiencies in the Criminals Procedure and Evidence Act.
She also said as a lawyer, she could not support a Bill that infringed on human rights, adding however, that there were exceptions to the right to privacy.
She further said investigators had to have reasonable suspicion that crime was about to occur when they applied to intercept communications.

Also, MP for Mochudi West, Mr Mmusi Kgafela welcomed the Bill, adding, however, that the provision of applying to court might create a gap in favour of criminals.
He suggested that investigators should instead intercept communication and apply at the High Court. ENDS