25 Jun 2024

 There is need to continue to training and providing senior government management with expertise and global best practices that cover corruption prevention and early detection. 

Minister for State President, Mr Kabo Morwaeng highlighted this Tuesday at a senior government officials training workshop facilitated by the Directorate of Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC). 

Endorsed and facilitated by the Commonwealth secretariat, the workshop began Monday and is expected to end on Friday and is held at the Protea-Hotel Marriot Conference Centre in Gaborone. 

The five-day workshop is expected to equip the leadership with essential management and leadership competencies required in today’s dynamic environment. 

Minister Morwaeng said the workshop was testament to government’s commitment to capacitating leadership and aligning efforts against corruption and thus called on them to leverage on advanced technologies such as data analytics, forensic, accounting and other digital tools, including timely prosecution capabilities. 

“DCEC has recognised the need of involving their counterparts in training and networking. This is underscoring the unwavering commitment to teamwork in combating corruption and fostering an environment where economic growth and development can flourish in balanced manner unimpeded by illicit activities,” he said. 

He said the DCEC was charged with a clear mandate to prevent and investigate corruption and economic crime at all levels of society to uphold the rule of law, ensure accountability and promote good governance, as well as to restore public confidence in government institutions. 

Since its establishment in 1994, he said, the DCEC had made significant strides in achieving its objectives, including implementing active measures comprising of public awareness campaigns and robust anticorruption frameworks which have yielded positive results. 

However, Mr Morwaeng said the journey had not been without challenges, given that the deeply entrenched nature of corruption coupled with sophisticated methods employed by perpetrators such as cyber-crime, continued to pose obstacles. He indicated that limited resources and lack of specialised professional expertise further compounded such difficulties. 

“The culture of impunity and sometimes no pace of judicial processes has had an effect on the efforts of the DCEC to measure up to the challenge of ever-evolving dynamics of economic crime in Botswana,” he added. 

For her part, DCEC director-general, Ms Botlhale Makgekgenene said the workshop would enable identification of effective strategies for planning and management within diverse government functions. 

Ms Makgekgenene said such training would also enable stakeholders to engage in discussions on ethics and professional values focusing on enhancing skills and competency to elevate service delivery standards. 

She acknowledged continuous support and collaboration of the Commonwealth secretariat in government’s development and capacity building efforts, particularly through their partnership with the DCEC. 

“As a country, we have immensely benefitted from the programmes offered by the Commonwealth-Africa Anti-Corruption Centre. Additionally, I express appreciation to the Commonwealth secretariat for providing government with this invaluable opportunity to enhance the capacity of leadership and senior management of Botswana,” she said. 

Furthermore, she said it was therefore imperative that the leadership and senior management within government departments as well as oversight institutions embraced a new mindset to effectively navigate all operational challenges. ENDS