The State apparatus must be sanitised

The Monitor Editor | Wednesday November 11, 2026 06:00

When the State cannot rely on its own machinery to pursue suspected wrongdoing, repairing that machinery must become a national priority.

The establishment of a Special Investigations and Asset Recovery Task Force may help government respond to the immediate challenge. However, Botswana cannot afford to leave the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) struggling whilst building alternative structures around them. These institutions must be restored to the level of competence and credibility their responsibilities demand.

President Duma Boko says the audit identified suspected corruption, fraud, and embezzlement; waste may have cost the government around P33 billion across 30 institutions. The findings demand investigations into individual wrongdoing and a thorough examination of the systems that allowed such failures to occur over a decade.

The main question is: where were the controls, and how were the various red flags raised by the Auditor-General ignored over the years?

The recent change of guard at the Directorate of Intelligence and Security offers another opportunity to restore public confidence. Lekoko Kenosi has assumed acting leadership following Peter Magosi’s retirement. We welcome the opportunity for a fresh start and hope it produces lasting institutional reform.

Changing leadership must be accompanied by changes in how institutions operate. The DIS, like every other public institution, must serve within its mandate, account for public resources and respect the authority of other agencies. National security responsibilities should be exercised with professionalism and effective oversight.

The same expectations apply to the DCEC and DPP. Capable officers must have the resources and independence to do their jobs. Where incompetence, misconduct or interference has undermined their work, government must act through fair and transparent processes. Transferring responsibilities elsewhere leaves those underlying problems unresolved.

Batswana also deserve clarity on how the new task force will work with existing institutions and strengthen their capacity. Its contribution should endure beyond the cases arising from this audit. Skills, systems, and investigative capacity developed through the exercise must benefit the permanent public service.

Sanitising the State apparatus cannot become an exercise in replacing one set of political favourites with another. Appointments must turn on competence, integrity and the willingness to serve the public without fear or favour.

Government has acknowledged the seriousness of the institutional failure. It must now restore a public service capable of protecting national resources and holding wrongdoers accountable, regardless of who occupies the highest office.

'The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.' — Dwight D Eisenhower