In his address yesterday, Mohwasa acknowledged that there is scourge of crime activities in the country ranging from murder, rape and of missing persons among others.
Regarding missing persons, the minister said despite the frustrations that are being raised by Batswana, the state of missing of persons is not as bad as people think.
“In the current year, from January 1 to January 31st there has been 87 incidents of missing persons reported as compared to 160 reported same period in 2024,” he said.
Providing reasons where these cases emanate from, Mohwasa said that these are cases of young people who are just mischievous and up to no good.
“Most of the missing persons are teenagers who visit their friends without informing parents and guardians on their whereabouts,” he said.
He further said the same pattern could be traced back to the defilement cases that Botswana Police Service (BPS) continue to record year in and year out.
“In some instances these defilements are preceded by reports of missing persons who upon return turn out to have been harbored by adults for sexual exploitation,” Mohwasa stressed.
Still with him linking the cases to young people being mischievous, he acknowledged that there are some cases that are sound and calls for concern.
“There are however some notable incidents of missing persons reports in various parts of the country that have generated public interest with the individuals concerned still missing,” he said.
The minister highlighted most the missing persons’ cases; people turn out all right though some are not lucky.
“Some of these missing persons are found dead, (drowned, committed suicide etc) whilst the majority return home in good health. Some have been found and recovered in neighbouring countries having gone for several years,” he said.
With the GBV cases, the minister indicated that the figures show that the matter is not bad like people think.
“There has been a modest reduction in GBV related offences from 331 cases recorded in January 2024 to 317 recorded in January 2025,” Mohwasa said.
The cases registered in January 2024 and January 2025 show a decline in the cases by 14, which is commendable by the minister.
