Signs that officers in the Botswana Local Police Service may be unhappy with their conditions of service emerged in Parliament this week.
Tonota Member of Parliament Pono Moatlhodi on Friday took Minister of Local Government, Ambrose Masalila to task over the late payment of local police officers’ allowance.
Moatlhodi who stopped short of disclosing that he had been approached by aggrieved local police officers to take up the issue with Masalila asked why the minister had not paid them overtime allowances for patrolling villages hit by Foot and Mouth disease.
Masalila told parliament that some local police officers who were assigned to man gates during the recent foot and mouth disease outbreak around Tonota village had not received their overtime allowances.
He however reassured parliament that the officers would get their dues before the end of the year.
“It is true that during the recent foot and mouth disease outbreak around Tonota village some local police officers were assigned to man gates, resulting in the said staff working odd hours.
The affected officers have not yet been paid their overtime allowances”, he said
Masalila says in October this year, local police outstations were advised to provide information on the hours worked and names of affected officers adding that as of now only Francistown has submitted the required information and these are being processed.
“I have impressed upon the department of tribal administration to ensure that such information is submitted so that officers could be paid accordingly before the end of this year”, he concluded
