BCP welcomes the sacking of Kgosi from DIS
Dumelang Saleshando | Friday May 4, 2018 14:16
Kgosi had absolutely no regard for the rule of law, principles of good governance and democratic oversight of the intelligence. He had become a bully who was feared by everybody. The party is of the view that his axing would be meaningless if he is not prosecuted for corruption and economic crimes he is alleged to have committed whilst at the helm of the spy agency.
The DCEC has completed investigations of corruption and fiscal and revenue crimes involving the former DG in at least one case. The latest case of the National Petroleum Fund proved that wheels had fallen off regarding the DIS and its disregard for the laws of Botswana.The BCP has never approved the appointment of Kgosi from the beginning as it regarded him as not only unqualified for the job, but also a stooge of former President Ian Khama. It is common knowledge that Kgosi was protected by Khama who shielded him from both prosecution and accountability before democratic institutions. The spy unit under him was a huge liability to the fiscus.
The BCP hopes that the axing of Kgosi will be followed by his immediate prosecution, the auditing of the DIS, which hasn’t been done since its establishment in 2007; we in fact recommend forensic audit of the unit.
We also recommend investigation into human rights abuses by the DIS under Kgosi and Khama, including but not limited to extra-judicial killings, torture and other degrading treatments, unlawful and arbitrary arrests and detentions and wire-tappings of electronic communications and invasion of privacy of citizens.The BCP calls upon government to review democratic oversight mechanisms of the DIS through legislative amendment to infuse transparency, accountability and the protection of individual rights and freedoms. As we have always contended, the current DIS legislative framework has created a fascist state in Botswana.
*Dumelang Saleshando is the BCP leader