Human trafficking case should be a wake up call

Mmegi Editor | Monday August 28, 2023 06:00

Despite increased efforts to combat human trafficking in Botswana, the country still averages over three cases of human trafficking annually as revealed by the Minister of Defence and Security, Kagiso Mmusi earlier this year. Mmusi told Ntlo ya Dikgosi in February that the Botswana Police Service (BPS) had recorded 16 cases of human trafficking in the last five years. “There were five cases reported in 2018, two in 2019, and six in 2020, one was recorded in 2021 and two in 2022,” he said at the time.

Currently, the police are investigating a possible human trafficking case involving 40 Ethiopian males aged between 10 and 35 years found in a cargo truck at Ngwasha gate near Nata village.

At the moment, investigations are still ongoing to determine how the Ethiopians travelled all the way from Ethiopia to Botswana. The 40 people who were apparently headed to South Africa and three Zambian nationals are currently detained in Nata.

We commend the BPS for the brilliant job in intercepting the cargo truck. However, we reckon that there is a lot that ought to be done especially at our borders which seem to be porous. We have over the years as a country been counting our losses owing to porous borders. Drugs and other illegal substances, vegetables and many other goods which are not allowed within our shores have been making their way into the country in large volumes undetected at the country’s borders.

Now, with such a case involving 40 people, it should be a wake up call for all authorities working at our borders to do more. It is time government prioritise installation of scanning machines especially at busy borders.

Just recently, Botswana launched 24-hour open borders with Namibia and plans are afoot to do more of that even with other neighbours. With such an incident, it is imperative to ensure that these are adequately staffed to reduce any chances of leakages.

Since it is clear that there are gaps at our borders, it is imperative that we also have random road blocks with scanners and sniffer dogs to try and detect any wrongdoing that could have been missed at the borders. The Directorate of Intelligence and Security has been accused of meddling where they should not be. It is perhaps an opportunity for them to redeem themselves and help detect such.

Law enforcement and border officers also need to be encouraged to do their jobs with the support of Batswana who find anything suspicions. We have only one Botswana and we should do all we can to protect it.

Today's thought

“An ounce of preventionis worth a pound of cure”

– Benjamin Franklin