Acting President Slumber Tsogwane’s security has been called into question following a car crash involving his convoy just outside Gaborone last week.
The Vice President escaped unhurt during a rear end collision involving a private truck and his SUV convoy. The truck reportedly hit the SUV behind Tsogwane’s vehicle which upon impact also rear ended the one the Acting President was travelling in.
According to information from the scene of the accident there was another dead truck on the A1 around the Mmamashia area which forced the acting president’s convoy to come to a complete halt, resulting in the collision by the unsuspecting truck driver.
Tsogwane whose SUV was also damaged in the collision, hopped into another vehicle and continued on his journey. Surprisingly, there were apparently no siren lights or police escort to indicate a VIP convoy.
This is unheard of, especially involving a state president. The incident has led to questions on whether the vice president’s security detail has not been enhanced to reflect his acting capacity.
A former expert in presidential security has however said there are no specific provisions to guide the strength of security for an acting president. “Security is situational,” they told Sunday Standard. “The security agencies decide on the VIP’s security based on a perceived threat.”
The other possible explanation for the collision points to the Acting President’s possible motive for the lack of blue lights; That Tsogwane possibly wanted to travel in disguise. But a security expert has said this decision could put ordinary road users in danger because of the speed at which such convoys travel.
“Without blue lights nothing says to other motorists that they cannot cut into the convoy. This explains why the driver in question did not keep the required distance from the vice president’s convoy.”
Following the accident the truck was toured to Mochudi for further inspection while the driver was detained over night at Mochudi Police Station.
Tsogwane’s entourage were never present during the police accident reconstruction drawing nor were the vehicles taken by the police for inspection.
The truck driver (names withheld) was eventually slapped with a P1000 reckless driving ticket.
