Some friends from South Africa called me to ask if indeed the one-minute video coming from a police CCTV footage was indeed originating in what they termed “Peaceful Botswana?” I am sure you all have seen this chilling act of terror.
Years ago, a Ugandan national who had come to work as an expatriate in Botswana was shocked to realise that he was going to be living behind a very tall wall as a means of protection against crime. He said he had been informed that Botswana was the most peaceful country in Africa.
This is a reputation that we as nation we worked to earn and it is this that is under threat and we need to boldly stand to protect it. To begin with, what we saw was not just petty crime. It was terrorism.
The minister responsible for the police was incensed at this and gave very stern orders the next day for the police to eliminate this fashion of crime. Others misinterpreted him to mean the elimination of the perpetrators but not necessarily the crime.
I must have begun by emphasising the fact that this type of crime should be classified as terrorism. This was full terror and the victims will not use that road in a very long time.
Law enforcement officials need to carefully and painstakingly search through to determine if this is not something sponsored by some powerful person or group. We know there is a lot of uncertainties about this country and when such acts of criminality happen, this should be the first corner to check.
There is more than this than meets the eye in this whole thing. There is certainly a conspiracy to unravel in this case. These are not just mere thugs. To a professional eye like mine, this is a well organised, planned and coordinated operation.
It is an operation made and intended to depict our country as lawless and ungovernable. If our country is perceived as crime ridden, it will equally be regarded as less attractive for the much needed foreign investment.
This crime should be regarded as local or home grown terrorism. It affects the inner core of our economy. And when the economy is not doing well, nothing else will. This is where law enforcement is needed to help drive the economy and bring back investor confidence.
Getting back to the issue of the sponsors of these terror acts; if we recall what happened with issue of elephant hunting early in 2019, you will come to the reality of the fact that this is most likely sponsored.
Those who were behind the crusade against the decisions by the government of Botswana were trying everything within their reach to try and tarnish the image of this country. Different media platforms were used overseas to try and bring down government. In as far as I am concerned, they are now bringing terror close enough to the ordinary citizens.
On another note; wherever there is security vacuum, this is bound to happen. These thugs have exploited the gap to their own advantage. This blitzkrieg attack happened at a spot well known for the crime of this nature but not to this magnitude. They are well aware that they would not be overtaken by police response.
But because this spot in the city is notorious for such crimes, why have security organs wait until now to launch a preventative operation. I am deliberately avoiding to name the police in this case because terrorism has those dealing with it professionally.
Issues such as these must collectively be responded to by the national intelligence, military intelligence, crime intelligence and so forth. When acting, they must apply maximum lethal force to set a very clear example. It only requires a two hour meeting for these security organs to meet and strategize on such operations.
Security institutions need to promptly prioritise and shift their focus to fill in the existing vacuum. This calls for resources. The one big problem in dealing with these crimes is the availability of human resources. We all know that the police are still very thin on the ground and this has been made worse by the escorts they are providing to cash-in-transit vans.
There is plenty of manpower ready to fill the existing security vacuum. These are retired police and military personnel. This cohort is very much ideal to help in collecting the necessary intelligence in the very communities they live in. Even the smallest village like Ukhwi in Botswana has a retired soldier.
No one is immune from this nature of crime as we have seen a cabinet minister becoming a victim of such crime last week. The best immunization would be the setting of counter operations in motion. This needs to be done now.
While some of us see this crime as driven by external forces, government should not in any way ignore the current prevailing economic circumstances. Our youths are economically challenged and this has become part of the driving force for crime.
While at that, the legislators must bring back the whip on bareback as was the case back in the day. Those who will remember Corporal Johannes Basson and his co-accused Private Theodore Hermens in 1988, the duo were sentenced to fifteen years in prison for terrorism and went on to serve their prison sentence in Francistown.
These were South African commandos who were caught by members of our military while on subversive operations in Botswana. The cherry on the cake of their sentencing was an addition of ten strokes for each. The whip has always been part of our crime fighting tool at all levels.
At the end of the day, it shows that we are all into to this mess. No one is safe and as a nation we need to rise to the challenge. This is not something for government to deal with alone.
