Kudos to the DCEC team

Mmegi Editor | Monday September 1, 2025 06:00

The young and old believe in get-rich fast schemes that ultimately land them in all sorts of trouble. Corruption has become so entrenched that some in both the private and public sectors have normalised corrupt behaviours as means of survival.

We would, however, like to shout kudos to the country’s corruption-busting agency, the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) head, Botlhale Makgekgenene, and her team members for their unrelenting efforts in combatting corruption, which, for a long time, had been threatening to ruin the struggling economy of our beloved Botswana.

The DCEC has been quiet for some time and seemingly even inaccessible by the media, with the public relations office failing to timeously respond to media enquiries. This week’s DCEC press conference, where key issues were discussed, could not have come at a better time.

The presser came at a time when the nation was waiting with bated breath for the results of the recently instituted forensic audit. The audit was initiated by the new government led by President Duma Boko to sniff into the government books after inheriting almost empty coffers from the previous government of the Botswana Democratic Party.

This week’s DCEC presser brought good news that the agency has recovered assets worth several millions of pula in proceeds of corruption, which also marked the agency’s most significant return of wealth to the State since its establishment 30 years ago.

Makgekgenene, the DCEC helmswoman, told the press conference that the properties and monies traced in 2024 and referred to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for recovery amounted to over P144 million, which makes a massive retrieval from past years of achievements. As reported elsewhere in this newspaper, this is a big increase when compared to the over P1 million recovered in the previous year.

It’s apparent that all systems that aid the DCEC to break even in their major investigations are really helpful and should be urged to do more so that all those who think corruption pays, are brought to book instead. At this rate, we encourage all hands to continue being on deck, as combatting corruption and economic crime should be everyone’s business to rescue the country from the grip of the greedy few.

We also encourage the DCEC to improve communication with its stakeholders so that whatever information they need, they get assistance on time. The nation is rooting for the DCEC, it seems, based on the reports and transparency shown following the recovery of the P144m loot.

It is, however, worrying that our lawmakers from the previous government and the current one seem to be competing with their abilities to loot from the government purse.

Once the cases have matured, it would be ideal for them to be prosecuted. It will not be fitting for the cases to gather dust on the shelves at either the DCEC rooms or at the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Please prosecute wrongdoers, don’t spare them.

“Success is the sum of small efforts,repeated day in and day out.”– Robert Collier