Kapinga was pushed out
Ryder Gabathuse | Thursday August 11, 2016 17:00
Quizzed about what pushed him out of the public service, former Botswana ambassador to Zimbabwe responded: “Now, that the employer, the Botswana government, did not seem to have respect and confidence in me, I had no choice but to quit the civil service.”
Kapinga, who is associated with a move to the opposition Botswana Congress Party (BCP), was quick to point out that ordinarily at 51 years, he was still young and energetic.
“To the best of my knowledge, I have not done anything wrong to have forced me to retire early.” None of his principals in the government enclave have ever called him and informed him of any wrong that he could have committed.
“As far as I am concerned, I was performing well and nobody ever pointed out anything to the contrary,” he said.
If Kapinga still enjoyed the respect and confidence of his principals, he would still be at work. About four and a half years ago, Kapinga’s principals frustrated him by moving him from the Botswana Police Service, the job that he did with passion, to the Foreign Service as Botswana High Commissioner to South Africa and then to Zimbabwe. He would however, perform the duties with aplomb.
In an earlier interview, Kapinga expressed his frustrations on his unexpected transfer. “I was hurt very much by this decision as it robbed me of my wish to accomplish my desire to lead the police service as a commissioner. I expected to rise to that position.” He maintained he was blank on why he was moved.
“I don’t know why I was transferred out. From the prevailing circumstances, I can only second guess that it was because I had a very strong position, that security agencies should respect the laws of this country which my principals were privy to,” he noted.
Kapinga detested acts of unwarranted detention and arrests under the guise of the law.
“My guess is that perhaps my strong position could have unsettled some people.” He further stressed that as a law enforcement officer he maintained a position that other security agencies should maintain the respect for the law in the execution of their duties.
Kapinga was particularly irked by security agencies that violated the human rights of people they dealt with. Now, quizzed about his personal relationship with the government sleuth and Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) and its director general Isaac Kgosi, Kapinga preferred to play his cards close to his chest:
“My personal relationship with the DIS should remain confidential. As a professional, I will choose to handle other issues professionally,” he said without revealing much.
Kapinga emphasised that one of his strengths in the police service was that he did not tolerate corruption at all especially when he was doing prosecutorial duties. “I had the chance of prosecuting fellow police officers including senior officers who were caught on the wrong side of the law.
Some even lost their jobs as a result and I never tried to cover them up.” Just as an example of his intolerance for corruption, it was during his tenure that the police service was procuring electronic equipment from Dubai.
“We realised there was corruption in the multi-million procurement tender and it was then cancelled. The government was paid back its money.”