Africa-Press – Botswana. The case of a top aide in the Office of the President against former minister of Unity Dow over the true identity of Facebook pseudo-account of ‘France Museveni’ appears to be dividing the Botswana Police Service (BPS) and its parent Ministry of Defence and Security.
Information reaching the press is that Defence and Security Minister Kagiso Mmusi insisted on Dow referring her case to BPS in full knowledge of the capacity constraints of the police to solve the matter.
The aide is the Director of Research and Analysis at the OP, Botho Seboko, who is suing the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation after she accused him of being the person behind the controversial Facebook pseudo account.
“The minister is aware of some of the capacity challenges that the police have and that complex cases such as this one are usually done with the help of other agencies,” a source said. “The minister regularly receives briefings from the Commissioner of Police on all joint investigations.”
The source added that the case is casting the police in a bad light unnecessarily. Another source says some of the cases against ‘France Museveni’ have elements of national security, hence other security establishments like the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Service (DISS) should also get involved.
The ‘Museveni’ pseudo-account has accused many people of plots to assassinate
President Mokweetsi Masisi, grave corruption and other serious ills against the government.
Police spokesman Dipheko Motube has admitted that BPS still faces challenges in investigating and solving crimes such as those alleged against ‘Museveni.’ “Cybercrime is an emerging area of crime and comes with new challenges,” Motube said in an interview.
“I can confirm that we have received a number of cases against ‘France Museveni’ and that we are doing everything we can to get to the bottom of them.”
For his part, the Minister Mmusi says he referred Dow to the police because his ministry has no resources to deal with such matters. “The reason I asked Mme Dow to take the matter to the police is that like all criminal cases, it should be dealt with by the police,” he said.
Meanwhile, a reading of Dow’s responding affidavit makes it patently clear that she is convinced that Seboko is behind the ‘France Museveni’ pseudo-account and that he enjoys protection from spy chief Peter Magosi and the Minister of State Kabo Morwaeng.
Dow states that she has reported her alleged cyber trolling and abuse to all three mentioned above, but no action has ever been taken. She alleges that ‘Museveni’ is a DISS operative who targets all those who do President Mokgweetsi Masisi and Magosi wrong.
BDP distances itself from Museveni Meanwhile, the Botswana Democratic Party has distanced itself from the ‘Museveni’ saga. The party’s Secretary General, Kavis Kario, says the BDP has no association with ‘France Museveni’ or his Facebook posts.
Kario actually urges law enforcement agencies to take action even as he acknowledges that ‘France Museveni’ claims allegiance to the BDP and targets those deemed to be President Masisi’s opponents.
“As much as the BDP government believes in freedom of expression, we believe that those who violate the rights of others should be taken to task,” Kario said in an interview. “The BDP government has set up platforms that everyone who feels abused should use to seek remedy.”
BCP says ‘Museveni’ is a DISS operative.
However, sections of the political opposition are also convinced that ‘Museveni’ is a secret agent of DISS. “It is clear that ‘France Museveni’ is the work of DISS,” the president of the Botswana Congress Party, Dumelang Saleshando, said in an interview. “There is just no respect for the rule of law whatsoever.”
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