A Zimbabwean illegal immigrant is currently recuperating at Princess Marina Hospital after being shot by Botswana Defense Force officers during an early morning patrol.
The victim, Mthulusi Thebe, was shot in the thigh by security personnel in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Narrating his ordeal to The Sunday Standard, Mthulusi Thebe, who has been living illegally in Botswana since 2006, said he was confronted by the officers on Saturday morning while coming from his place of abode in Tsolamosese.
He said that he refused to oblige to the security officers’ demands for him to stop, rather taking to his heels, apparently in fear of arrest as he did not have legal immigration documents.
He also disregarded a warning shot that was fired by the security agents, after which he was shot in the thigh.
Botswana Police Service Assistant Commissioner Christopher Mbulawa said on Friday that he is aware of the incident.
He said that security officers’ primary responsibility is to ensure that Batswana are protected from criminal elements, adding that their paramount mandate is to arrest suspects and bring them before the courts of law.
“Our intention is not to kill anyone. However, we always encounter casualties in our line of duty,” he said.
