A scary scenario spun out by Major General Pius Mokgware: If a terrorist were to drop a bomb on the petrol strategic reserve tanks along the Haile Selassie road in Gaborone at 10 am, the whole government enclave would go up in smoke and hundreds of civil servants and members of the public visiting government offices would be reduced to char. Bringing down the government enclave would not require terrorists to smuggle a sophisticated bomb across our border. A simple bomb which is only one click of the mouse away from anyone who has access to the internet would do the job.
The former Botswana Defence Force (BDF) Commander of the ground forces was pointing out how gaps in our security offer terrorist any number of likely strategic targets. It emerged during the interview that much of what is critical to our way of life; water; electricity and petrol are unsecured and easy targets for terrorist attacks. The security measures we have cobbled together are hardly fit to deter amateur thieves and vandals, never mind determined terrorists.
Mokgware who is currently a Security Studies and Political Science lecture at the University of Botswana (UB) says Gaborone dam, located close to the populated Tlokweng village, oil reserves located a stones’ throw away from the government enclave, the water purification plants and Morupule power plants are all not strategically placed and are sitting ducks for terrorist attacks which could be targeted to devastating effect since they are located in populated areas. Should a terrorist decide to bomb Gaborone Dam or our strategic oil reserves, the effect on the economy and loss of lives would be staggering.
Major General Pius Mokgware told Sunday Standard that Kenya’s recent terrorist attacks raises questions about the security of Botswana’s water purification plants, power stations, oil reserves and dams which in security parlance would be referred to as “soft” target or targets that do not have much security. Soft targets are much easier to attack than hard targets, which deter attacks by maintaining a comparatively strong security presence. Major General Mokgware says security companies that shoulder the security burden of our strategic installations lack the staffing, training or equipment to do the job. “It is clear that most of the security guards who man these places are not well trained. There are no set out standards by those issuing out security guard licenses. If you go to the Office of the President, you will find that they are working on those standards and only security clearance is done,” he said.
He called on government to come up with policies that are geared towards monitoring and screening security guards and ensure that the right people are employed.
“In most cases access to our dams is very easy. You are simply required to produce a permit from Water Utilities Corporation. No search is carried out and any dummy can slip stuff past security and dump it on the water. That on its own is a loophole. Security protocol that regulates access is very weak and wanting.”
Major General Mokgware revealed that Botswana has a real soft underbelly that can be used by terrorists against us. This is not helped by the fact that the country is not prepared to respond against a terrorist attack.
Asked General Mokgware: “How prepared are we as a nation and how quickly can we respond? People will tell you that they are prepared and cannot discuss the issue for security reasons. But the truth is that they are hiding behind the National Security Act because we are not prepared. That is why recently the military in Kenya was beaten by six terrorists.”
He said Botswana’s security analysis is done by DIS. “They have never shared that with us but on the ground, that is what we see. At the time DIS was formed, we should also have had private security Act; who can be a security company and who should be employed, how are they going to be resourced, not only vetting these security companies.” General Mokgware told Sunday Standard that “we had long called on the government to look into such issues.” By “we”, Mokgware is referring to the BDF command. “But government is not treating the matter with the seriousness it deserves.
He reiterated that location of Botswana’s strategic energy and water resources strategic installations should not be in populated areas and access should be restricted. General Mokgware further warned that Terrorist groups can form out of any situation.
“When you start to have disgruntled security personnel, a disgruntled public service and large number of unemployed youth, you need to be worried. Terrorists target these people. They are the breeding ground for terrorists,” he warned further.
Mokgware also questioned the safety and security of the country’s water treatment plants. “How secure and safe is water treatment plant, which is the last water that will be coming to us as consumers. We know that the relevant authorities are using chemicals. But how secure is the storage of these chemicals. People who put in those chemicals are just ordinary people. There has to be a systematic way of doing it,” he argued.
Mokgware said the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) needs to look into such issues as they are threats to the country’s security. “The DIS still has to do more with these things. There is need to come up with a legislation to deal with these things,” he said.
General Mokgware also argued that power stations needs to be protected and secured because should there be sabotage, hospital in-patients on life support systems would be affected.
He said in the past military personnel used to be deployed at the sites where the country’s energy and water resources are located but that is now the responsibility of security companies.
“We cannot continue using the army but security companies should be well equipped; for instance security people at the dams do not even have radios or protective clothing,” he observed.
Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) spokesperson Spencer Moreri said BPC has in place internal and external security controls which are considered adequate and for security reasons cannot be divulged to third parties.
“In terms of the engaged security services provider, BPC has a robust criteria for sourcing the best service provider. Power stations due to their strategic national importance are national security key point areas hence it is not unusual to have presence of any law enforcement agencies in such areas,” said Moreri.
He added that “In terms of the engaged security services provider, BPC has a robust criteria for sourcing the best service provider. Power stations due to their strategic national importance are national security key point areas hence it is not unusual to have presence of any law enforcement agencies in such areas.”
Comment from WUC was not immediately available at time of going to press.
