16 Oct 2022

The National Drafting Committee-Anti-human Trafficking National Action Plan 2023-2028 is expected to carve out Botswana’s trajectory for the next five years.

Deputy secretary for justice in the Ministry of Justice, Mr Moffat Lubinda, said this during the national drafting committee orientation workshop recently.

Human trafficking, he said, presented severe affront to the rights, protection and wellbeing of its victims and therefore needed to be managed.

“Crime violates the rule of law, has a negative and pervasive effect on the criminal justice system. It is often exacerbated by being closely intertwined with serious offences such as corruption, money laundering, financing of terrorism and indeed other forms of illicit financial flows,” he said.

That, he said, posed threat to citizenry and any development plans that the country might wish to pursue, hence the need to ensure compliance with and respect for the rule of law, rights, protection and wellbeing of its victims.

Mr Lubinda, therefore, encouraged the committee members to assess anti-human trafficking success and challenges, adding ‘apply yourselves to the task of anticipating new threats with a view to devising interventions that our government together with other key stakeholders can successfully implement.’

Mr Lubinda also emphasised the importance of the 4P paradigm (prevention, protection, prosecution, and partnership) in anti-human trafficking, which he said was accepted as best practice in developing any anti-human trafficking national agenda.

He also encouraged committee members to make concerted considerations on what Botswana should do to prevent human trafficking, measures to be taken to protect those that fall victims, ensure successful prosecutions of offenders as well as create, manage and enhance key partnerships in the fight against the crime.

He said 4P thematic approach, if applied diligently, would assist to achieve intended objectives.

He indicated that a national action plan was generally meant to provide guidance and a blue print for state actors, civil society and indeed other actors in a systematic, organised and coordinated manner, adding therefore the pronouncements of the Reset Agenda should be pursued.

“Be encouraged all to do things differently, including consulting as widely as possible, to lead and go an extra mile and assist with ways to ensure that they have a good feedback from people on the ground,” he added.

For his part, one committee member, Dr Patrick Masokwane said the development of the Anti-Human Trafficking National Action Plan was a central and high level national strategic objective that must supported and facilitated. Dr Masokwane thus encouraged members to do all to help guide and develop documents that would ultimately protect Batswana from human trafficking. BOPA