African regions such as the Sahel, Lake Chad Basin and the Horn of Africa are not the only ones considered new theatres of terror activity but the phenomenon has expanded to West Africa’s coastal states, Central Africa and Southern Africa.
The 2020 Global Terrorism Index shows that seven out of 10 countries badly affected by terrorism in the world are from Africa with the Sub-Saharan Africa being the second region in the world affected by deadly terrorism superseding the Middle East. The lethality of terrorism is increasing in Africa in contrast to other parts of the world and estimates show that close to $97 billion of informal economic activity is lost each year due to terrorism.
In Southern Africa, the instability that characterises the Cabo Del Gado region in Mozambique has triggered a collective response from the SADC region through deployment of troops to fight terrorist insurgency that has the potential to destabilise the whole region. Botswana is one of those countries that had deployed troops to Mozambique. It is important to note that this deployment carries with it some huge risks that expose Botswana to potential terror attacks. One of the strategies used by terrorist organisations is to cause harm to countries that intervene in peacekeeping via terror attacks as a way of forcing them to withdraw from such deployments.
The consistent attacks in Kenya and Uganda are few examples of how intervening states have suffered the repercussions of their deployments.
It is against this background that due to the potential danger that Botswana faces, it is important for the government to set up a National Terrorism Threat Alert Advisory System (NTTAAS). This is a system which the government of Botswana can use to communicate information about terrorism threats by providing timely and detailed information to the public, government agencies, first responders, public sector organisations, airports and other transportation hubs, shopping centres and educational institutions.
By using the information at their disposal, the system will have a task of providing concise summary of the potential threats, provide information about actions to take to ensure public safety and recommended steps that individuals, businesses and governments can take to help prevent, mitigate or respond to the threats of terrorism. One of the functions of the NTTAAS can perform is to establish a National Security Hotline, which will be a single point of contact for the general public to report possible signs of terrorism. The hotline can also provide information on a wide range of national security matters affecting Botswana. It is important that each and every piece of information that goes through the hotline be treated with utmost seriousness as the information could be vital in preventing acts of terrorism.
Furthermore the NTTAAS can be very vital in assisting the Botswana government to provide security to its critical infrastructure and vulnerable targets. Critical infrastructure is those assets that are essential for the functioning of the society.
These include but are not limited to transport systems, electric power stations, water and communication systems, hospitals and health clinics, fire departments and public administration services. Vulnerable targets are shopping centres, sporting events, religious gatherings and others. Protection of critical infrastructure and vulnerable targets requires the NTTAAS to provide information to all stakeholders on complex security arrangements such as cyber security measures, crowd management, first response operations communication. Batswana should avoid travelling to places or countries that can expose them to kidnappings and murder such as Mozambique where Botswana has deployed its troops.
Important advise to Batswana is to be wary and report suspicious bags at shopping centres and airports and never to let strangers leave them with any parcel at any place in Botswana.
In addition the government of Botswana should improve its security at government ministries, border gates, learning institutions and others by installing metal detectors that can go a long way in preventing terrorists from smuggling explosive devices that can cause enormous harm to citizens and infrastructure.
Most importantly, security agencies should have an inter-agency collaboration to guard against complex acts of terrorism such as terrorism financing, recruitment and radicalisation of the youth through propaganda used by terrorist organisations. Botswana should be proactive in preventing terrorism on her soil and establishing a NTTAAS is one of those ways that can be explored.
