Almost 29 years ago, the Government of Botswana took a tough decision to construct an electric fence along its border with Zimbabwe. This electric fence was officially constructed to restrict the movement of animals across the border in order to control the troublesome foot and mouth disease.
However, villagers along this border with Zimbabwe welcomed the project for its added value of controlling illegal immigration into Botswana. At the time, authorities in Zimbabwe queried that Botswana was by implication closing its borders.
The Government of Botswana maintained that it was not closing its borders because travellers would use gazetted points of entry for visitations. In spite of this assurance, the authorities in Zimbabwe warned that people were going to destroy the fence.
This warning came out like a tacit incitement of people to destroy the planned electric fence in order to cross the border illegally. Indeed the fence has since been practically brought down supposedly by Zimbabwean illegal immigrants.
In 2020 at the onset of Covid-19 in Southern Africa, the South African Government decided to construct a barbed wire fence along its border with Zimbabwe, precisely at Beit Bridge. The fence was meant to control illegal border crossing and help South Africa better manage the Covid-19 pandemic.
The fence was destroyed as quickly as it was constructed, allegedly by illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe. While the South African government immediately repaired the damaged fence and deployed military personnel to patrol and secure its borders, the Botswana Government seems to have accepted defeat at the hands of illegal immigrants most of who are criminals and spongers.
As a result of conceding defeat, much of the borderline between Botswana and Zimbabwe is just imaginary since illegal aliens cross into Botswana and back to Zimbabwe at will. It is noted that some illegal immigrants cross into Botswana in search of a better life, that they are not criminals.
However, a majority of illegal immigrants are dangerous criminals, which is why they would not want to use gazetted entry points. Botswana Police estimates suggest that a majority of crimes involve illegal immigrants.
These illegal aliens, in no small measure, threaten the livelihoods of residents of border villages. It is a fact that illegal immigrants seriously compromise the safety and security of locals and make it difficult to manage and control both human and animal diseases.
A national boundary functions as a physical barrier to ensure territorial integrity while also being symbolic of a country as a private property. When illegal immigrants violently outrun a sovereign state, it implies the loss of the state’s ability to defend its people.
Batswana, especially residents of borderline villages, especially in Bobirwa Sub-district, feel that they are no longer protected from foreign invasion and this represents loss of sovereignty. That being the case, the very survival of our nation is realistically under threat considering the amount of damage these illegal immigrants cause.
The brutal deeds of illegal aliens, especially their violent criminal behavior wherein they never hesitate to kill and rustle all of a farmers’ livestock and chickens, presents a unique threat to Botswana’s territorial integrity.
Thus, our ideas about the threats to our nation ought to change from the traditional view of threats in terms military offensive by a foreign army. Our contemporary threat is in the form of an unarmed invasion by illegal aliens who continue to cause havoc by destroying people’s livelihoods and the Botswana way of life.
Botswana has to rethink issues pertaining to its national security, especially the role of the military in service to that nation. Botswana ought to admit that we have a serious problem with our northern neighbor whose economy and politics refuse to stabilize.
While the problem is not an armed conflict of some sort, the reality is that the scale and effect of illegal immigration presents a national crisis that is gradually mutating into a national disaster.
Without exaggerating, Batswana live in fear of illegal immigrants in a way that point to a nation under siege. Indeed, those who are responsible for curbing illegal immigration readily admit that they are out-maneuvered and outnumbered by the marauding illegal aliens.
In other words, Botswana either has limited resources to prevent the illegal aliens from crossing into the country or it does not give a hoot about the damage caused by these aliens. Unfortunately, villagers along the border with Zimbabwe do not have enough bullets to stop the illegal aliens from forcibly taking away their property.
This situation requires Botswana to change its strategy for dealing with this national disaster. It is imperative and urgent that the government reassures its people that it has not lost its ability to defend them against heartless foreigners.
To do so, Botswana ought to reexamine and reconstruct its national security fundamentals. Botswana has to reformulate the foundations of its national security and repurpose the role of the military in the new national security dispensation.
The first task would be to determine an immediate plan of action to reduce and contain illegal immigration which has led to the creation of a cross-border criminal underclass. It is an uncomfortable truth that government departments that have a role in border control and surveillance do not speak with one voice and hardly pull in the same direction.
Their measures are fragmented and at times run at cross purposes. As a result of their disjointed and careless approach, citizens have been badly exposed to the vagaries of cross border organized crime and have concluded that government does not really care about their plight – their lives and the security of their property.
On this point, the Government of Botswana must, as a matter of urgency, create an integrated national border management authority constituted by all relevant institutions with a role in border control and management.
Following that, all districts adjacent the borderline would be required to establish district border management structures for purposes of developing a unified, mutually reinforcing approach to border control and for pooling resources together in tackling illegal immigration and its attendant crime.
Through these structures, government will be in a better position to offer a comprehensive outline of its vision of containment and reassure people that our territorial integrity is not lost. This approach is expected to improve law enforcement along the borders.
The benefit of improved law enforcement along Botswana’s borders would be tighter border controls leading to improved national security. It is a fundamental responsibility of the state to protect its citizens and residents from foreign encroachment.
The next task is born out of the need to reformulate our ideas about threats to our nation and reconstruct our national security systems. This task focuses on a re-examination of our defense policy and the role of the military in contemporary Botswana.
It is acknowledged that the military does not have primary responsibility to secure our borders though the army has the core responsibility to defend the nation against external threats, specifically armed threats.
The nation is threatened by dangerous illegal immigrants who are overpowering civilian personnel responsible for immigration and border control. Since civilian law enforcement of our borders is overwhelmed, thrashed bare and proving virtually ineffective, the need to secure our borders has to escalate to the armed agencies particularly the military, either as a primary responsibility or supporting act.
For ages, Botswana has used the army to support the Police in combating violent criminals, generally by patrolling streets in towns and major villages. The army has also been used in anti-poaching operations and the results have been incredible.
It is a fact that illegal immigration compromises national security and it is a hard truth that the scale of illegal immigration in Botswana has morphed into a national security crisis that justifies the deployment of the military along the Botswana borders, especially the border with Zimbabwe.
On this point, the Badge of Courage pleads with President Dr Masisi to take executive action and redeploy the army along Botswana’s porous borders, especially with Zimbabwe for the sake of national security. Such decisive action will go a long way in restoring public confidence in our security apparatuses
In the meantime residents of border villages and the farming community who are terrorized by cold-blooded illegal immigrants have adopted a shoot to kill operation to protect themselves and their property.
With this stance by locals, Botswana is on its way to normalize summary execution of cross border criminals, especially livestock rustlers and spark a diplomatic war with its neighbor.
