DCEC boss decries struggles
Innocent Selatlhwa | Wednesday May 21, 2025 06:06
Addressing the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday, she elucidated the crime busting agency needs to be reformed and funded more in order for it to be more effective. “I am not going to beat about the bush, it is a fact that Botswana was once hailed as the least corrupt country in Africa, as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, but lately, we have seen a decline in our ratings and rankings,” Makgekgenene told the sitting.
She said the DCEC’s concern is that the decline is attributable to the inadequacy of anti- corruption mechanisms, lack of accountability, and lack of national corruption policy amongst others.
Makgekgenene said the decline was seen over the past five years, a period she states the graft agency was going through a rough patch.
“There was a lot of instability within the Directorate’s leadership, as such my main focus when I assumed office was to ensure that we stabilise the institution, we develop a roadmap, focused on building a formidable team with a view to improve accountability and good governance in Botswana through adoption of a national corruption policy that we are currently resuscitating and looking into,” she added.
The DG said part of her roadmap is focusing on lifestyle audits as a strategy to uncover concealed corrupt practices and ill-gotten gains.
This, she said, is in line with the provisions of Section 34 of the Crime and Economic Crime Act (CECA), on the possession of unexplained property or living beyond means.
“Noting that traditional forms of bribery, they have become increasingly difficult to trace, and the accumulation of unaccounted wealth or living beyond one’s means has, therefore, emerged as a glaring indicator for potential illicit activities.
“So public officials and individuals in positions of power who can't justify their lifestyle in relation to their known sources of income are now investigated through this strategy,' she said.
Makgekgene said they are also reviewing the CECA, with the objective to address the deficiencies identified in the implementation of the Act.
Some of the key issues, she said include the independence of the DCEC, the security of tenure of the DG, as well as enhanced penalties for corruption and related offences.
Part of the review of the Act, she said is also envisaged to address the public perception of political interference and or influence, which she says has been perpetuated by the removals of DGs and deputy DGs in the last five years.
“This obviously has regrettably caused instability in the institution and it has disrupted the strategic operations, project implementation and the performance of the directorate itself,” she said.
Makgekgenene said the impact of the lack of the legal protection of the tenure of the DG is an enduring challenge which has also contributed adversely to the decline in Botswana’s anti-corruption and governance ratings.
Meanwhile, Makgekgenene shared that between January and December 2024, they have received 687 allegations of corruption.
And out of the 687, only 35% or 238 matters were classified for investigation, whilst the rest were either further reports to existing cases or were referred to other institutions for appropriate action.
“We have realised an exponential increase of reports immediately after our general elections, and we believe we need to ensure that we keep the momentum; ensure that we are responsive to these reports,” she said.
She further shared that the current case load as at December 31, 2024, stood at 1,603 investigations.
Makgekgenene said they have so far disposed 350 cases comprising 62 that were sent to DPP for possible prosecution whilst 288 were closed internally due to various reasons, including insufficient evidence.
One of the greatest challenges, she pointed out is that of inadequate budget. She bemoaned that they have not experienced any exponential increase in their budget.
She said the increase only usually caters for inflations and price increases as well as for their annual salary adjustments.
Makgekgenene also highlighted the issue of manpower shortage due to government's wide moratorium on creation of new posts.
“This has resulted in structural gaps, particularly in the regional offices, where we end up overburdening the headquarters because of the lack of human resource,' she said.
Another challenge, she said, was leakage of information. “Whilst we note that we handle cases of public interest and concern, this has been a worrying trend for us, as confidentiality is crucial when it comes to investigations,” Makgekgenene said.
She added that they have since come up with strategies and structures to deal with issues of information leaks.