The plea was made by the Vice President, Slumber Tsogwane, recently when officiating at the simultaneous ground breaking of 28 police stations and staff houses that was held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC). He expressed worry that it has since become increasingly worrisome that major projects, which are of strategic importance and of public interest, have attracted cost overruns due to incomplete designs, poor workmanship and changing project scopes. Tsogwane stated that the police stations are expected to enhance the capacity of the Botswana Police Service in the fight against crime to ensure continued public safety, peace and stability. He said as part of the global village, Botswana subscribes to both regional and international organisations’ treaties and protocols that seek to promote global security, peace, stability, and sustainable development.
“This is a turn-key project that highlights my government’s resolve to use the Development Manager model to expedite the delivery of infrastructure development that is core to the Transitional National Development Plan (TNDP)’s targets. Thus, during the current 2024/25 finance year, Botswana has become a vast construction site. I wish to urge the two companies which have been awarded the project, namely, Home Safe Inspections (Pty) Ltd and Unik Construction Engineering (Pty) Ltd, to deliver the projects on time, on budget, and without compromising quality,” pleaded Tsogwane. The VP further asserted that the construction of the 28 police stations was envisioned in the second TNDP themed, “Towards a high-income economy: Transformation now, prosperity tomorrow”, which runs from April 2023-March 2025. He said it is also part of the deliverables of the overarching outcome of ‘Achieving prosperity for all’ in a crime-free environment, as espoused in the National Vision 2036. Tsogwane said through this Vision, government seeks to transform the economy from an upper-middle income to a high-income status by 2036. “Vision 2036 Pillar No. 4 on governance, peace and security, speaks to a peaceful society characterised by low levels of crime and fear, a state of affairs which should, in turn, contribute positively towards attracting foreign direct investment and boost our economy. It is, therefore, my government’s intention to fully resource the Botswana Police Service to deliver an ideal environment where society feels safe at all times,” Tsogwane said. He said in demonstrating this commitment of enhancing peace and security, just a week ago, government presided over a pass-out parade of approximately 1, 000 police recruits who were graduating from the Police College in Otse. He added that the pass-out was the second time that the college graduated such a big number of officers.
“The construction of the 28 police stations across the country would definitely enhance community outreach and translate into increased police visibility, improved crime prevention and detection as well as improved police response time. Effective policing, including the visibility of police officers doing patrols in communities and on the roads, goes together with providing them with decent work stations, from where their operations can be managed and swiftly coordinated to forestall and combat the commission of crimes, or to offer other emergency support to the public,” he said. In turn, Tsogwane said the availability of decent facilities, vehicles, tools and gadgets of the trade for police work, boosts the morale of police officers and enhances their operational efficiencies, just as it is the case with any workers in other sectors of the economy. He said towards establishing that it cannot succeed in the fight against crime alone, the police have since embraced community policing as a force multiplier. To this end, the Vice President implored various sectors of the community, such as civil society, churches, schools, and businesses, to form partnerships with the police. “It is in recognition of the important role that the community can play in ensuring public safety and security, peace and stability in the country, that I launched a very important community outreach programme of the BPS, a week ago being ‘Adopt-A-Police-Station initiative. Since the launch of this initiative, 83% of police stations have been adopted by the business community with only a few remaining. This demonstrates our communities’ willingness to partner with the police to ensure peace and security in our country,” he said.
Furthermore, Tsogwane said it is in their power as the government to resource the police so that they would be able to deal with today’s policing demands stating that today’s world has become more complex owing to the impact of globalisation and technological advancement. He said Botswana like all countries of the modern world is faced with new and sophisticated crimes such as transnational organised crime and cyber crimes. Tsogwane said these contemporary crimes challenge the police to find innovative means of dealing with them, especially considering the rate at which crime is rapidly migrating from physical locations to digital platforms. “The construction of the 28 police stations is one way of resourcing police service to effectively deal with crime. Our police are also equipped with technical skills and matching technologies to cope with new and sophisticated crimes. It would be a grave mistake if I were to conclude my address without expressing my concern and unhappiness regarding the continued perpetration of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) offences, especially against minors. I believe that the increase of police stations would increase access to specially tailored police services that would go a long way to reduce the incidence of these crimes,” he said. However, Tsogwane said BPS has set up eight Child Friendly Centres (CFCs) and is planning to roll out the facilities countrywide, in a bid to improve access to these services by children who are either victims or perpetrators of crime. He said the government will continue to avail resources to efficiently and effectively combat GBV and these child friendly crimes should be extended to both existing as well as the facilities that are being constructed. Tsogwane went on to acknowledge and appreciate in a special way, the unwavering efforts of the police officers for their commitment, resilience, courage, confidence and professionalism in the execution of their police duties.
“I thank you for always putting the customer first. My government will continue to inject the necessary resources into the service to achieve public security goals, in line with our National Vision 2036,"Tsogwane added. Sharing the same sentiments, the Minister of Defence and Security, Kagiso Mmusi said through the construction of 28 police stations the ministry is reinforcing the foundation of trust between our law enforcement and the public they serve. “Our men and women in police uniform are doing a good job to keep us safe, therefore, they need to be resourced appropriately, hence this project. Due to this project, I expect improved productivity and quality customer service from the police service. They are a beacon of hope to Batswana and I implore them to enhance public safety, foster community engagement and ensure that justice is served swiftly and fairly. They should deliberately create a future where every citizen can live, work and raise their families in safety and peace,” Mmusi said.
