Africa-Press – Botswana. Parliament is debating the Wildlife Conservation and National Park (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (Bill No. 8 of 2025), meant to amend the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act.
Presenting the bill on behalf of Minister of Environment and Tourism, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Major General Pius Mokgware said the bill was to amend the Wildlife Conservation and National Parks Act to allow wildlife officers to use arms of war in protecting wild animals threatened by poaching. He said the previous government had disarmed them, therefore putting the precious natural resource of the country at risk of poaching.
Maj. Gen. Mokgware said it was without doubt that poaching incidents were on the rise since wildlife officers were helpless and unable to address the poaching situation. He said it was also worth noting that precious and scarce wild animals such as elephants, rhinos and leopards attracted tourists in large numbers, adding that tourism was the second in terms of revenue generation after diamonds.
Maj. Gen. Mokgware said arming the wildlife officers would first protect their lives; secondly tourism would grow and flourish, as the wild-animals would be safe from poachers and increase in numbers.
Therefore, Maj. Gen. Mokgware appealed to legislators to support the proposed amendment of the act as it was meant to safeguard the tourism sector, protect the lives of wildlife officers, as the arms of war would increase their security and that of the wild animals. He pleaded that the bill be preceded with as a matter of urgency, noting that the Amendment Bill was published in the Government Gazette on March 28, 2025 and has not yet matured.
Also, he said the tabling of the bill in an ordinary manner would mean that the bill would not be debated in the current meeting, thereby further delaying implementation of empowering wildlife officers to carry on and use arms of war rather than just fire arms in the execution of their duties to combat poaching that had transformed into a highly organised and militarised activity. He said the absence of arms of war limited wildlife officers ability to deter and respond to direct threats against Botswana’s protected wildlife population. The minister said the proposed change required immediate implementation.
Commenting on the request to present the bill on certificate of urgency, Leader of the Opposition and MP for Maun North, Mr Dumelang Saleshando admitted that the challenge was brought about by the past administration by disarming wildlife officers, putting the country at the risk of increased poaching activities. He said even though the bill could have been presented well on time, presenting it now on a certificate of urgency was necessary.
He also added that he had long approached the substantive minister to consult MPs of the constituencies that were most affected by issues of wildlife but to his surprise, the bill was presented before such a request was done.
MP for Charleshill constituency, Mr Motsamai Motsamai said the bill was a positive step as the nation was shocked by the move to disarm wildlife officers. He said it was important to give back the arms of war to wildlife officers, as this would provide them with the necessary resources to be at par with threats posed by poachers who were heavily armed.
He said it was important to protect the scarce wild animal species for the future. Mr Motsamai said it was equally important, funds permitting, to increase the number of helicopters and drones for patrolling national parks. He said wild animals were dangerous, therefore it was important to empower wildlife officers to move wild animals from land occupied by human beings.
Kgatleng East MP, Mr Mabuse Pule in supporting the bill, asked the minister to explain how the wildlife officers were disarmed. Mr Pule said such a move must be extended to the police as they were fighting with serious criminals such as in cash in transit heists and other cases. He said it was important for wildlife to be equipped with all the necessary tools including drones to fight cases of poaching.
Source: dailynews
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