Allegations of nepotism at Urban Police Station

BAME PIET
Staff Writer | Thursday October 14, 2010 00:00

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity the officers said that just last Friday there was an auction at the station of goods recovered from suspected thieves and other lawbreakers. Among the goods that were sold were three computers, the source said, which officers in the Registry Department bought, flaunting the set rules. 'They sold themselves the three sets of computers on a P5,000 credit, something which is not allowed. They denied members of the public the opportunity to buy those computers,' said one officer.

Another officer said that the same Registry officers sold themselves Technics and Pioneer music systems by flaunting the rules despite repeated calls from members of the public that what they were doing was wrong. 'It was clear that they had inspected the goods before going to the public auction and they had agreed on who should buy what. They knew because they are always in their custody.

They know which functions properly and which bag contains what,' another officer said. The officers added that during the auction one of the officers fought to secure a bag, which was packed with brand new children's clothing.

According to the officers, the auction was not advertised in other police stations as is normal procedure and it was clear that some officers really wanted to benefit from it. In a separate case the officers accused their colleagues of recently employing their close relatives as special constables to the disadvantage of other candidates.  However, Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube of the public relations unit Botswana Police Service said that the auction was sanctioned by the Commissioner of Police and was conducted in a transparent and fair manner. He said that the auction was advertised at the local Kgotla so that VDC members can inform the public. He said all the goods were paid for and nobody owes anything.

Further, Motube said there was no way any officer could apply any tactics to employ their relatives as special constables as there are minimum qualifications (25-30 points) required.

'The process also involves other people from different government departments. We have those rumours but our investigations found no truth in them,' he said. He urged officers to report any wrongdoing to the police.