17 Dec 2023

There is no signed agreement between Botswana and Zimbabwe on the use of National identity cards (IDs) to cross the borders. 

Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi clarified in Parliament on Decenber 14, that the formality of using National IDs to cross the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe had not yet been arrived at. 

Ms Mokgethi said it was not wrong for presidents to share what they viewed as of importance to their nations, more so that it was within the development agenda of the continent. 

Presenting a statement, Ms Mokgethi assured Batswana that processes and procedures would be undertaken before implementation could take place.

More importantly, Ms Mokgethi said upon adoption of acceptance of regulatory standards, the two countries would enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA). Ms Mokgethi emphasised that issues of concern must first be attended to before such an initiative could be undertaken.

She said the decision would take into account security measures of the IDs as well as border management control, stability, traceability of migration patterns as well as economies and beneficiation on the use of IDs as travel documents. 

Responding to a question from Francistown West Member of Parliament, Mr Ignatius Moswaane who had asked on the security and precautionary measures to be considered, Minister Mokgethi said prior to finalising such an agreement, an impact assessment study (security assessment) would be part of what would be done at the initial stage of the discussions. 

She assured Mr Moswaane and other legislators that no deal was struck yet. Francistown South MP, Mr Wynter Mmolotsi indicated that Francistown was already overwhelmed by influx of  Zimbabwe nationals even before the ease of movement agreement, resulting in a serious challenge on among others health facilities and other services provided by the city. 

Mr Mmolotsi said it was important to consult and get the views of the communities in localities like Francistown and North East as they would be  directly and negatively affected by the development. 

He said the decision would have implications on the lives of the people in Francistown with the likelihood of increasing criminal acts. 

Ms Mokgethi advised that the agreement be guided by the framework of the law as it was allowed by the Immigration Act. She said due diligence would be done prior to making a final decision. 

Even though it was a good idea, Ms Mokgethi assured that a decision would be subject to a thorough assessment. 

She said SADC was working on regional integration with free movement being a priority area and that Botswana was at the forefront. 

Pursuant to the African Union Agenda 2063 on free movement of people in the continent and the Pan African Forum for Migration and the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement initiative, Ms Mokgethi said Botswana continued to explore opportunities to facilitate movement of people, goods and services. 

Ms Mokgethi said one strategic move to enable and operationalise the initiative was to use the ID as a travel document in bilateral arrangements with SADC countries, which were amenable to the concept. 

As such, Ms Mokgethi said in February, Botswana entered into an agreement with Namibia regarding the use of national identity cards of the two countries to cross their borders. 

She said the move had eased movement of individuals, groups of people, business communities and frequent travelers of both countries. 

“Ease of doing business, visits to relatives, travelling for various reasons has improved,” she said. 

Ms Mokgethi said exploring free movement between Botswana and Zimbabwe during the recent Kusi Ideas Festival panel discussion featuring President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi , his Zimbabwe counterpart, Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa and other participants, Dr Mnangagwa made comments acknowledging and appreciating the discussion he had with President Masisi on facilitating free movement between the two nations using national IDs.

However, Ms Mokgethi hastened to indicate that the agreement was in principle, adding that the officials and technocrats would advise accordingly towards working out an arrangement as to how the proposed easing of movement would be carried out.

 Ms Mokgethi said in two of his kgotla meetings, President Masisi had shared his desire to approach Zimbabwe and initiate the discussion on the use of IDs of the two countries to cross the borders.

Should the leadership of the two countries formalise the idea, Ms Mokgethi said all necessary consultations, processes and communication would be done with the relevant stakeholders both in Botswana and Zimbabwe. 

“As the Ministry responsible for migration, civil and national registration, we have observed various reactions from members of the public as well as from social media locally, regionally and far afield on this matter. We have found it fit to put this matter into perspective,” she said. 

She said the background to the use of IDs to cross the borders emanated from the desire to facilitate free trade, movement of people, goods and services in line with the aspirations of free trade agreement in Africa. 

Ms Mokgethi said AfCFTA encouraged free movement of goods and services, enhanced by free, safe, secure, orderly and regular movement of the people of Africa. “As a nation, we need to leverage on free, orderly and regular movement of people within the region to facilitate our economic growth. The African Agenda 2063, the Africa We Want, has identified free movement of Africans as the strategic pillar that can harness and enhance economic growth,” she said. 

Therefore, Ms Mokgethi said Botswana continuously explored options and possibilities of facilitating free movement through the use of national IDs as a document for travel. She said the arrangement between Botswana and Namibia was living up to expectations. ENDS