Dozens of special constables employed by the Botswana Police Service (BPS) are up in arms as gratuity for their terms of employment that expired in early 2022 remains elusive. February 7, 2023 will mark exactly a year since dozens of special constables completed their two year fixed term contract with BPS. The employer has however failed to provide answers despite several attempts by the constables to seek clarification. Attempts by Sunday Standard to establish reasons behind the delay were just as futile.
“The issue of gratuity for Special Constables is an employer/employee contractual agreement and obligations between BPS and Special Constables and cannot be discussed with a third-party,” Assistant Commissioner Dipheko Motube said in response to our enquiries. Some of the special constables have written letters of demand to BPS Commissioner through their legal representatives. “Our client was employed by your honorable entity as Special Constable from February 2020 to February 2022 on contract basis,” one of the letters reads. “Part of the contract of employment entitled them to gratuity of 30 percent basic salary for the duration of the contract. Client has not received her gratuity to date, and it is now nine months since his contract expired.”
The lawyers said their client was now in dire medical needs due to his medical condition. “By this letter hereof, we therefore make final demand that client be paid his gratuity within 14 days of receiving this letter.” However, months later, Sunday Standard has been informed that no response has been offered by BPS. Several other letters of demand were also written by other special constables but with the same outcome. The group of special constables were part of the 2019 intake.
“The police service Botswana recruited for the position of a special constable in 2017. The move was necessitated by the constant increase in the crime rate and the government has announced plans to recruit for the position of Botswana police service special constable in 2019. Like other officers, the duties of the Botswana police service special constable would be to combat crime within the internal society, enforce the rule of law while upholding the values of the countries police service,” BPS said in a statement then.
“However, despite the effort of the police service to mitigate crime in the country, the crime rate in Botswana has ironically soared due to the reported increase in the country’s population and to consolidate in her effort to combat the incessant crime in the country, the Government has announced the Botswana police service recruitment exercise in 2019/2021.”
