Principal whistle blowers have come to trust members of parliament than the DCEC. For this reason the review might rejuvenate the agency in order to justify its continued existence.
It is important to remind ourselves on the circumstances leading to the establishment of the DCEC. Between 1990 and 1992 there were three presidential commissions of inquiry that were set up to investigate allegations of high level corruption. One of the presidential commissions of inquiry was meant to look into land problems in Mogoditshane and other peri-urban villages. The commission report or Kgabo report as it is popularly known revealed serious irregular land dealings by public figures. Following the publication of the report two senior cabinet ministers resigned from their positions to "clear their names." Around the same period, a Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC) Commission of Inquiry investigated allegations of corruption at the BHC producing the Christie Report. Allegations of corruption and incompetence at the BHC were heightened by the mysterious and sudden death of the then General Manager of the BHC and the discovery of "substantial sums of unaccounted cash in his vehicle and in his office safe". Then there was the IPM Consultancy Report following a commission of inquiry that investigated the supply of school books and materials to primary schools for the 1990 school year.
These commissions of inquiry revealed high level corruption, fraud, impropriety and serious irregularities. They proved the notion that corruption begins at the top and ends at the top. It is in this context that the DCEC was established. The public expectation was that high level corruption would be uncovered and the perpetrators brought to book. To the disappointment of many, very little has happened in this regard. In my view there are numerous plausible explanations for this; either high level corruption has suddenly declined or we are using a narrow definition of what corruption entails; the DCEC is unwilling to tackle high level corruption, or the perpetrators of corrupt activities are good at covering their tracks.
