Delivery within our security organs

Richard Moleofe | Friday April 25, 2014 10:40

 

This week we proceed to survey our security organs and in this case I have elected to sample Botswana Defence Force and Botswana Police Service. Of course I have left out other security organs such as the Directorate of Intelligence Services and the Prisons and Rehabilitation Department. It would require a whole thesis in order to address all of our security apparatus and this is why we are only going to look at the two.

On daily basis citizens of this country interact with members of the two organisations at various levels and hence the need to assess their delivery mechanisms and results. On a monthly basis, BPS issues reports to members of the public through the different media platforms announcing their achievements and failure. For instance, information on crime rate in Botswana is almost at the tip of the fingers of anyone who wishes to know. The current indicators show that crime levels are slowing down in Botswana even though it still is not at a desirable state. It is of paramount knowledge to the reader that BPS has always kept its records on crime and this is still done on a weekly basis. It is just that in the past they did not share the information with members of the public. For decades they have maintained a weekly reporting system which often reads like a horror movie when one goes through the events contained therein.

But is BPS equipped to the task of dealing with crime in this country? As an ex-soldier, I have had some valuable interaction with members of BPS while doing the Combined Security Operation which we normally would do for a complete week. This had become one of my toughest weeks in a calendar year because of the stress levels that come with the job. Even though indicators point to a reduced crime rate in Botswana, the reality on the ground tells a different story. To begin with, the police are far too few to deal with half the crimes that occur on a daily basis. Let us take into account that an estimated one third of crimes are not reported because of client fatigue on the attitude of the police. The usual story that comes from the police is that “koloi ga eo”. For certain minor burglaries people just give up on reporting such matters because they are never investigated anyway. Where a vehicle is available at a given police station, it takes ages for them to attend to the crime scene.

Members of the public whom the BPS exists to serve must come to the understanding that the employer is to blame where there is no delivery. The police are understaffed and demoralised. It is their conditions of service that seem to have a huge impact on their delivery. In recent years, government has decided to scale down the recruitment of fresh policemen and policewomen and thus finding a cheaper means of replacing them with Special Constables who in my opinion serve at an equivalent level of interns in other government departments. The introduction of cluster policing was one of the ways of reducing government’s wage bill and this seems to be working in favour of the employer and not the public that government is supposed to serve. Government needs to revamp BPS and give it a new facelift altogether. Changing the name of a Charge Office to what is now termed as Community Service Centres will have no positive bearing on the issue of delivery unless a new name comes with better resources such as more land and air vehicles. The waiting time at such centres still remains the same as an indication of non-improvement. For the two decades I spent at BDF, the frequently asked question by members of the public has been surrounding what soldiers do on a daily basis at peacetime. At the time when government introduced WITS (Work Improvement Teams) in the late 90’s, BDF did not participate in this exercise because as according to General Khama who was the Commander at the time, soldiers had pre-existing delivery parametres that they were already following. For instance, every soldier has a routine schedule that has to be followed religiously. At 05:30hours it has a Master Parade which is later followed by an Inspection Parade at 07:30hours. At 13:45hours there is yet another parade and all these are mechanisms that are in place to make sure that no one falls in the cracks and fails to deliver at his work place. The military tradition everywhere in the world maintains discipline and an orderly manner of command structuring that contributes hugely to matters of delivery. This is why ranks are the same the world over. Some years ago BDF had submitted to the Ministry of Finance for the bridging of a pay gap between the rank of Major and Lieutenant Colonel. The primary request was to elevate the pay of a Major closer to that of their immediate superior. The Ministry of Finance came out with a rather innovative way of address the problem. They suggested that BDF should create a bridging rank of Major Colonel in order to address the deficit.

Maintenance of discipline at BDF helps a great deal in the aspect of delivery because a soldier has to be loyal to his superior and work with all his might to impress them. One of the contributing factors to the drivers of delivery within a military setup is the presence of a command structure. This is always predetermined such that even in the confusion of battle, every person knows where they fall within the hierarchy as it is a top down leadership structure.   I wish not to discuss the issue of remuneration in the two organisations because I understand the sensitivity of the matter and would not want to unnecessarily cause an insurrection. But the figures never lie. Statistics are clear indicators that both organisations are hemorrhaging badly and government needs to address this matter with all the urgency it deserves in order to give members of the public the security they are paying for with their taxes.

*Richard Moleofe is a Retired Military Officer