13 Mar 2024

Crime rate in the country has declined by 7.8 per cent in 2023, says Minister of Defence and Security, Mr Kagiso Mmusi.

He said this during the ministry’s 2024/2025 budget proposals presentation in Parliament on Monday.

“I am happy to report that in 2023, recorded crime went down by 7.8 per cent from 173 140 in 2022 to 159 680. For instance, burglary went down by 8.5 per cent, house break-in  by 2.9 per cent , robbery 8.3 per cent, rape by 7.5 per cent and defilement of persons under the age of 18 years went down by 14.9 per cent,” said Mr Mmusi.

Whilst crime generally subsided, the minister admitted that there were disturbing incidents in the public safety spaces citing that stocktheft cases rose by 18.8 per cent, theft of motor vehicle and murder cases increased by 28 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively in 2023.

He said the country was also experiencing an emergence of illegal mining activities in the northern part.

“To this end, the Botswana Police Service has purchased armored personnel carrier vehicles and drones which are now being deployed along the problem areas. These interventions are complemented by border patrol duties carried out by members of the Botswana Police Service and Botswana Defence Force,” he said.

Similarly, Mr Mmusi said city policing in Gaborone was now an active policing initiative following its launch in December 2023. The unit, he said would continue to be resourced to ensure adequate coverage of targeted areas.

He added that the expansion of Closed-Circuit Television (Safer City) surveillance was on-going in Gaborone and Francistown as a complementary measure in crime surveillance.

Mr Mmusi said the Botswana Police Service would constantly reinforce policing initiatives to ensure relevance and sustainability of crime deterrence measures.

With regard to road safety, he noted that Botswana Police Service continued to classify road safety as a law enforcement priority, thus the need for this measure could not be over emphasised given that the number of people who lost lives due to road traffic accidents remained high.

The minister, said the police service would therefore continue to undertake sporadic checkpoints, saturation patrols and public education. Other notable accomplishments, he said was the completion of constructions of Kaudwane, Mapoka and Tshidilamolomo police posts as well as the purchase of one-fixed wing aircraft and development of crime analysis system, which was an automated biometric fingerprint system.

“Police accessibility and visibility are crucial in promoting community safety, therefore it is critical to bring the police close to the people. During the Second Transitional National Development Plan, 28 police stations across the country are planned for construction at various locations,” he said.

Mr Mmusi said each police station would have accommodation and transport and the project would be implemented through Public Private Partnership/turnkey model.

Furthermore, he said Botswana Prison Service had also escalated its measures to effectively respond to critical prison-based emergencies such as escapes, riots and high-risk prisoner escorts.

“This include formation of the Rapid Response Team, Prison Police, Intelligence, Operations Support and training of personnel. The implementation of these initiatives started in 2023 and has resulted in decline in prison breaks,” he said.

 Likewise, the minister said the development of an Integrated Prison Security Solution strategy to increase baseline security of the prisons was completed. ENDs