Morwaeng said the complainants are usually a small number of people who make loud noise adding that such noise is heard because the majority of people who do not have a problem with the DIS are silent. While typically people who are afraid of their own shadows are very timorous and frightened of everything, the DIS has in the past been accused of human rights abuses, particularly random detentions with minimal oversight. In the recent past, some prominent figures like former president Ian Khama, former spy Chief Isaac Kgosi and Specially Elected Member of Parliament (MP) Unity Dow have complained about DIS harassment and lack of oversight.
Morwaeng conversely says some of the complaints raised against the DIS are meant to tarnish the organisation’s image while other reasons are caused by lack of knowledge. Responding to a question in Parliament this week, Morwaeng dismissed Gaborone North legislator Mpho Balopi’s assertions that a lot of people are complaining about the DIS. “It’s only a few people. Batswana in general are not complaining about the DIS,” he said. Accusing the DIS of harassment, Khama fled the country to South Africa late last year and he has since delayed his return in what has been deemed as self-exile. Khama has disclosed that he was aware of the DIS’s intention to arrest and consequently allegedly make him ‘disappear’ once in custody. Before he left, Khama had been accused by the DIS of threatening national security.
