Many questions were raised about whether it is business as usual at the intelligence agency since the tri-party coalition took over government from the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in November last year. Minister for State President Moeti Mohwasa told Parliament recently that the DIS is currently under review by the government for purposes of addressing its accountability and oversight challenges. He added it is expected that the review will indeed result in the amendment of the Intelligence and Security Service (ISS) Act of 2007 where the DIS’ operational autonomy, its accountability and oversight mechanisms including the Parliamentary Committee will be empowered. “Government intends to involve and lobby all the relevant stakeholders in addressing challenges at the DIS with the view that this process will culminate in a new intelligence and national security paradigm and doctrine, and ultimately a new national security culture that will have human rights at its core,” Mohwasa further revealed.
It was recently revealed that government will increase the budget estimate for the security organ by P233 million, further fuelling doubts that the UDC had backtracked on its election promises. “This overhaul will entail a reconfiguration of the intelligence oversight role by a legislative committee to focus on several key tenets, including a mechanism to verify whether the intelligence community is fulfilling its mandate and reflects policy or vision,” the UDC stated in its manifesto. In their pillar two on democracy, governance, and security, the UDC, amongst others, promised to revise governance institutions like the DIS to establish a truly democratic, free, and secure nation for all to participate and fully enjoy their rights and freedoms. But now Mohwasa has revealed in detail that he is aware that the DIS has been labelled as rogue and that it lacks oversight. As he disclosed DIS’ supposed oversight mechanisms, he said one of the various important oversight mechanisms available to the DIS is the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security established under Sections 38 to 40 of the ISS Act.
