Stop the rot before its too late
Mmegi Editor | Tuesday November 29, 2016 12:31
The offence involves factors surrounding the death of a well-known Gaborone resident, Solomon Tlhapane, whom while lying in a mortuary in South Africa, was swindled of millions of Pula by an alleged syndicate led by a Zimbabwean gardener.
The matter is before the courts and we cannot go into details lest we be accused of prejudging the suspects.
What we wish to communicate nonetheless is that obviously the suspected syndicate issued the aforementioned documents to the suspects to aid them to commit the said offence. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has become a gold mine for some unscrupulous individuals who solicit bribes to issue such important documents to non-deserving people.
Some operate as consultants, whilst others are employees of the said department.
The same can be said about other government departments such as Department of Road Transport and Safety, which tried to shed some of its rotten employees two or three years ago. The exercise did not bring any improvements as we continue to hear shocking stories of corruption. Public Service Vehicle permits are owned by a few individuals who allegedly belong to a syndicate. Such acts put the lives of commuters at risk as unfit vehicles are allowed on our roads.
Also, we continue to hear of workers who are mandated to man our borders who have also built syndicates and are making a killing out of ordinary people by making it difficult for them to import Asian second hand vehicles. These crooks apparently make difficult demands and pressurise law abiding citizens to break the law and pay bribes.
We have to fix our systems and ensure that there are checks and balances to stop the rot. Thousands of potential investors have been turned back, yet we can afford to issue fraudulent documents to suspected criminals. We hope that all stakeholders are not only watching, but are preparing to mobilise resources to tighten the existing processes and procedures. The security feature of the national passport were tightened when the electronic passport was introduced some five years ago and therefore only syndicates working in cahoots can manage to defraud the system to issue it to their friends.
If we do not nip this problem in the bud, we are likely to find all government offices invaded by these syndicates to a point that one would have to pay a bribe before they can have water connected to their house; have the national ID; or even to board a flight.
Today’s thought
'Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It’s self-defence. It’s patriotism'.
– Joe Biden