03 Apr 2023

Minister of Defence and Security has urged Batswana to commit to assist government in its efforts to get rid of illicit drugs in the country.

“As part of the global village, Botswana is no exception to availability of illicit drugs within its borders, therefore every Motswana is urged to take accountability and responsibility of helping to get rid of such drugs,” Minister Kagiso Mmusi said.

Mr Mmusi made the appeal in Parliament recently, saying trading as well as use of illicit drugs were on the rise and the ministry was concerned about the growing market and was still building capacity of the newly established Drugs Enforcement Agency.

He said the agency was  mandated with enforcing the laws to combat illegal traffic and trade in dugs.

“Meanwhile, the police will continue to conduct focused investigations through specialised operations with other law enforcement agencies both locally and regionally,” he said. 

He also said government continued to empower the police through intensifying capacity building and training in crime intelligence and gathering, as well as assisting them to implement community outreach programmes in schools and kgotla meetings, among others.

Mr Mmusi added that there were also various preventative efforts in the fight against the use and trade of illicit drugs, which included the use of sniffer dogs at ports of entry, cracking syndicates and bringing defaulters to justice.

“Regarding commitment of resources, my ministry continues to increase police manpower as seen by the recent graduation of 500 officers. We also continue to provide them with knowledge and equipment to enable them to adequately deal with those challenges,” he said.

Also, he indicated that other ministries were also stakeholders in the fight, such as ministries of health, local government and rural development, education and skills development as well as youth, gender, sport and culture.

He said the ministry was also mobilising various sectors and industries, a move, he said would ensure that the whole society was involved. 

He said efforts towards fostering international cooperation with cross-border law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to disrupt organised transnational trafficking of drugs were also underway.

Again, the minister revealed that even though illegal drugs trade was spread throughout the country, urban areas were the most affected.

“Although it is difficult to present supporting statistics, it is evident that some of the crime committed in the country such as gender based violence, theft, common assault, road traffic violations and others are influenced by usage of drugs,” he said.

The minister was giving an update following Kanye North MP, Mr Thapelo Letsholo’s concerns about the increasing rate of illegal use and trade of drugs in the country.

MP Letsholo had also asked  what government was doing to curb the problem. ends