DIS: Armed and dangerous
Ntibinyane Ntibinyane | Friday September 19, 2014 16:33
DIS has allegedly received a consignment of weapons of war, ammunition and high tech security surveillance gadgets from Israel, raising fears that the spy agency is arming itself to the teeth ahead of the general election.
Mmegi can reveal with authority that the consignment was delivered on August 30, 2014. At least three separate sources interviewed by Mmegi in the last two weeks confirmed the arrival of the consignment.
The delivery of the consignment has further heightened agitation in the country’s security services including the Botswana Defense Force (BDF) and the Police, sources within the intelligence community have told Mmegi.
The highly secretive consignment is said to have arrived at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport (SSKA) in Gaborone at night and delivered by a large Russian made Antonov chartered cargo aircraft. Sources inside the intelligence circles said only a few people witnessed the covert arrival of the consignment.
This week sources revealed that the consignment came directly from Israel. DIS has standing agreements with some of the Israeli intelligence organisations, sources have said. The DIS regularly sends its agents to Israel for training.
The arrival of this consignment, which was shrouded in secrecy, apparently caught both the BDF and Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) by surprise and sparked a commotion at the airport. Mmegi has learnt that the BURS insisted on the inspection of this secretive large cargo because there was no prior arrangement to exempt the goods.
At the insistence of DIS the goods were allegedly not inspected and whisked to a secretive location known to this newspaper. For issues of security Mmegi will not reveal the place where the weapons are now stored.
BURS commissioner Ken Morris this week claimed ignorance of the mater. “I am not aware of the incident you are talking about. Again even if I was aware [of the consignment] I wouldn’t share it with you,” he said.
Lock and loaded spies
It is not clear whether the DIS intends to arm its notorious and feared agents ahead of the October 24 general elections, but one thing for certain is that the arrival of the consignment has raised suspicions the DIS intends to evolve into a fully armed security organisation, something that has been condemned by security and intelligence experts.
The primary function of the DIS as stipulated in the Intelligence and Security Act is mainly to “…investigate, gather, coordinate, evaluate, correlate, interpret, disseminate and store information, whether inside or outside Botswana.”
While it is normal for the agents to carry guns, the experts argue that the DIS should not be over armed.
According to security experts, the arming of the DIS concerns the BDF. The soldiers are reportedly “grossly worried” about the continued stockpiling of weapons by the intelligence services. Sources have alleged that at one point following the establishment of the DIS, weapons were moved from BDF to DIS, something that did not go well with the BDF.
The BDF concerns are also chiefly on the storage of the acquired weapons. Some of these weapons are said to be stored in sensitive areas where there is large human traffic. It is said that the BDF has on few occasions advised the DIS to remove the weapons from the stored facility because they pose danger to public safety.
The BDF has however denied knowledge of the DIS consignment. In response to Mmegi questions, Colonel Tebo Kacho Dikole said, “The BDF is not aware of allegations wherein you aver that DIS has received a huge consignment of guns”.
He however avoided the question of whether Botswana’s threat status warrants large procurement of ammunition by the DIS. Dikole referred Mmegi questions to the DIS.
Repeated efforts to talk to the DIS director Isaac Kgosi have been unsuccessful.
Security threats
The arrival of the weapons just a few weeks before the hotly contested elections has raised questions. “It appears as if they are anticipating something some of us are not all aware of.
Is Botswana under any threat from within or outside? I doubt the country is under any threat. Even if there is a genuine threat from the political parties this is something that can be perfectly handled by the police,” said a security analyst this week.
Several other intelligence sources also expressed shock at the alleged weapons adding Botswana’s security threat does not warrant the procurement of arms of war.
“The only explanation to this matter is that DIS is currently positioning itself as the most powerful security organisation in Botswana ahead of the BDF and the police. It appears the President also has soft spot for the organisation and trusts it more with national security than other security organisations,” said another expert.
Although Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) confirmed that no aircraft could land at SSKIA without the knowledge of management of the airport, they told Mmegi that unless they are furnished with registration details of the airplane, they would have difficulty in ascertaining which aircraft Mmegi referred to.