26 Oct 2023

 The government aims to create an environment where everyone is treated with dignity, respect,  free from discrimination and violence, says the Minister of Defence and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi. 

Launching the eighth child friendly centre in Maun on October 25, the minister called on the community to come on board and augment the government’s efforts towards the protection of children. 

Mr Mmusi urged members of  the public to fully utilise the centre to achieve its intended purpose of ensuring professional investigation and safe guarding children’s rights in handling cases affecting them. 

The centre aims to create a conducive environment especially  children to freely report incidents of gender-based violence (GBV). 

Mr Mmusi said  the facility would go a long way towards ensuring justice for children. 

“The government remains a key player in the protection of children’s rights as they are the future and should not grow with pain and suffering. Therefore the centre is strategically located here to boost public and visitor assurance,” he added. 

He also acknowledged development partners, notably the Japanese and the British governments as well as the United Nations in particular, UNICEF, who had been instrumental in the project of integrating child-friendly policing within the Botswana Police Service (BPS). 

Mr Mmusi said the country had prioritised the tackling of GBV and the promotion of children’s rights as evident in various interventions, programmes and initiatives. 

Such initiatives include amongst others, GBV national sensitisation campaigns under the patronage of the First Lady, Ms Neo Masisi, active collaboration with partners and stakeholders and the establishment of the Gender and Child Protection Branch (GCPB) in the BPS. 

The minister said the government had also established an inter-ministerial committee on GBV, adding that there was also a continuous legislation review to strengthen response and law enforcement. 

The gathering learnt that a Sexual Offenders Registry Act has been assented and the Penal Code amended to enhance penalties for sexual offences, implementable effective September 2023. 

Mr Mmusi said soon, the Sexual Offenders Registry would be rolled out to districts so that perpetrators could be registered. 

He also reaffirmed government’s commitment towards fulfilling the national peace and security agenda as captured in Vision 2036 citing Pillar Four of governance, peace and security. 

The pillar, he said, stated that a crime free environment was a prerequisite for peace and stability adding that his ministry, through the BPS, had been mandated to ensure public safety and security. 

He said the ministry would continue to provide an enabling environment for effective law enforcement through the provision of adequate funding and allocation of support resources. 

“Human capital will be augmented and continuously capacitated to guarantee professional competence and relevance,” he added. 

Mr Mmusi said the ministry was committed to embracing and aligning with the Mindset Change Initiative with a view to improve service delivery, giving priority to the needs of the customers and according them a more professional and customer-friendly service across all structures. 

Giving an overview of the project, the Acting Police Commissioner, Mr Phemelo Ramakorwane, said the number of cases involving children as victims, witnesses or suspected offenders had been increasing in the country hence the need to address such challenges.

 Out of the 2 111 rape cases recorded in 2021, he noted that 734 involved children as victims while  in 2022, out of a total of 2 481 rape cases reported with 596 involving children as victims.  

The police registered 2 033 defilement cases in 2021 and 2 059 in 2022. 

The new facility, he said, would  promote child-friendly policing by creating a conducive environment that guarantees children’s rights as well as improve voluntary reporting of crimes involving children. Ends