The DIS has not shied away from being used by those in political control to humiliate those who are seen or viewed as adversaries regardless of how such actions compromise national security. Fear and scaremongering has become its trademark thus making the majority of Botswana citizens to live in perennial fear. With the coming to power of the new government in November 2024, calls have become very loud for the institution to be either demolished or reformed so that it can be held accountable to ensure that it strictly adheres to the rule of law and fully concentrate on provision of national security. This article is an attempt to stress the importance of oversight of the DIS to ensure that it becomes accountable to the public. In other words, the DIS should not be disbanded as some people suggest but should instead be subjected to very robust democratic oversight. This then brings into sharp focus the importance and role of oversight institutions especially the oversight of a State security agency such as the DIS. It is important to note that it is a core responsibility of the State to provide national security to citizens especially in this modern era on multiple and complex security threats such as terrorism, cyber-attacks and sophisticated criminal networks.
Technological advancements have also made their work more complex, and the transnational nature of today’s threats has made it ever more challenging. If the State fails the responsibility of provision of security to citizens amid these complex threats then questions of legitimacy of the State arise with a likelihood of destabilisation or possibly violent domestic conflict. It is within this context that State security agencies especially the intelligence services take a leading role in helping to protect national security. Worthy of note is that security agencies providing intelligence services, by definition are covert and secret. They collect and process information with the purpose of supporting decision-making and their methods of data gathering (and the data itself) are usually classified as they are often regarded as important to national security. The covet and secretive nature of intelligence operations are the two main issues that breed deep suspicions of abuse of citizens by those who are expected to provide them with security.
