Botswana’s former ambassador to Zimbabwe Kenny Kapinga says the VISA policy in Botswana is not based on logic but on who the Director of Directorate on Intelligence and Security (DIS) Isaac Kgosi wishes to permit to enter the country.
Kapinga who recently joined the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) was speaking at the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) rally in Tlokweng over the weekend.
He said there are nationalities that are blacklisted by the country that are not permitted into Botswana, regardless of what kind of people they are.
Kapinga said multi billionaire investors looking for business opportunities are denied entry into Botswana.
The reason often given by Government and the DIS boss is ‘national security.’
“This country has gone to the dogs where irrational decisions are made every day. When you question these irrational decisions they will tell you that it is national security.”
He added “DIS agents must be told that they do not come from Mars. They do not come from any planet where super intelligent human beings live. We worked with most of them. We know them and we know their thinking capacity. We even know their Director and his thinking abilities.”
Kapinga said even though the DIS boss thinking capabilities are questionable, he is amongst those who decide who should be given VISA and who should not be given VISA.
He says that the Department of Immigration should be the one vetting and issuing permits.
“The DIS boss and his agents should only tender advice on whoever is requesting for VISA to enter Botswana. If you go around the world and listen to the people talking about Botswana nowadays, they are crying about these VISA issues.” According to Kapinga, this is so because the DIS Director has hijacked the Department of Immigration’s role of issuing VISAS all to himself and he is doing it all wrong. Kapinga said the issuance of VISA has become so unpredictable in Botswana such that Botswana is no longer attracting investors. He says Botswana Ambassadors abroad are just ghosts in other countries because even if they recommended VISA for any investor, the DIS boss is the final decider. “He can choose to refuse anytime and when he does, he does not care to give reasons at least to the Ambassador who recommended any investor. The DIS boss and government hide behind national security,” said Kapinga.
“This is surprising because it means as an Ambassador you are not trusted, but someone of a lower level in the DIS is trusted with a decision of who enters Botswana, and someone somewhere at the top is thinking the DIS boss can make decisions in the best interest of this country as compared to the ambassador?”
Kapinga said the DIS is busy poking its nose where it does not belong adding that it is so because their Director is giving them an impression that they are above other government employees.
“This is wrong. There is no country that can be governed by state security intelligence. In a normal setup DIS should be operating behind the curtains. The institution’s operatives are not supposed to be seen. They are not supposed to be known,” said Kapinga.
“In this country it is vice-versa. We have a security intelligence apparatus that believes it is a law enforcement agency on its own. Now they are doing the policing work. They must be told that Botswana Police Service is the chief law enforcement agency in Botswana.”
He added that after 2019 it will be clear that the law enforcement agency in Botswana is Botswana Police Service only.
