Political Risk:
High
Score:
39/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
50/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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The Parliament of Botswana is the supreme legislative authority. The National Assembly is a representative body elected by universal adult suffrage and consists of…
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In the absence of a clear Defence Policy, the Parliament of Botswana does have the powers to debate the Defence Budget. Whilst the Defence…
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The current Executive of President, Mogkweetsi Masisi, came into power on 1st April 2018. There is no clear evidence as to any coercion either…
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Q2
40/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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The Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice & Security Committee has the legislative power to examine defence expenditure. Although this committee has other additional functions, which…
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The Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice & Security Committee is led by Hon. Kenny K. Kapinga, MP, [1] however it is not clear from publicly…
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This indicator is marked as ‘Not Applicable’. The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice and Security is not responsible for scrutinising the defence…
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There are monthly scheduled meetings for the Committee ( for the period that the Parliament is in session) to scrutinise the budgets and other…
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There are provisions allow the Committee to conduct long term investigations; however, there is no evidence of such long term investigations having been conducted…
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Recommendations to improve the operations of the Ministries are issued by the Committee to the relevant Ministries incorporated [1]. These recommendations range from human…
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Q3
0/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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The country does not have a Defence Policy or a National Security Strategy that is debated and publicly available [1]. In 2019, a paper…
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This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ because, as noted in 3A, Botswana does not have a Defence Policy or National Security Strategy [1]. For…
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It follows from 3A and 3B that there have not been any public consultations in the last 5 years. This is because the country…
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This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ because, as noted in 3A, Botswana does not have a Defence Policy or National Security Strategy. As such,…
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Q4
17/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is no evidence of any relationship between CSOs and defence and security institutions. This can be attributed to the historical development of Botswana…
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In general, CSOs operate independently and are protected in terms of the law [1]. The role of CSOs was recognised as far back as…
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There is no evidence of any collaboration between the CSOs and the Defence on areas of corruption. Further, there is no indication that such…
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Q5
75/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Botswana acceded to the UNCAC on 27 June 2011 [1]. The country is not a Member of OECD [2]. According to SIPRI Arms Transfer…
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Botswana has substantially complied with the obligations of UNCAC [1]. For example, the establishment of an anti-corruption agency in the form of the Directorate…
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Q6
25/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Generally, there is debate around Defence issues but in most cases, it is around budget allocations, recruitment, and in some instances, the corruption that…
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There is no government debate with the public on Defence issues. As highlighted in 6A, Defence issues are talked about as a result of…
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Q7
0/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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Q8
42/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There is no specific unit within the Defence services sector that is independent and well-resourced. Effective institutions, within defence and security, are tasked with…
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The institutions outlined in 8A are not within the Defence department. However, these are the institutions that are responsible for dealing with issues of…
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Generally, the institutions are run professionally and they always endeavour to improve their operations [1]. However, their work on Defence is not made public…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The history of allegations of corruption in the Defence Sector appears to have created…
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Q10
13/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There is awareness of risk areas within the Defence sector [1]. However, as it has been alluded to earlier, in the absence of a…
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Risk assessments are not conducted on a scheduled basis [1]. There are no published risk assessments that have been done in recent years. However,…
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There are no corruption risk assessments that have been carried out or documented. As such, this indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’. Whatever available information…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
67/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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There are clear planning and acquisition processes that are guided in terms of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act [1]. These are available…
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The Public Procurement Manual defines the public procurement philosophy as to continually introduce higher standards and to achieve: a) Open, fair and transparent tendering…
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There is no evidence that the country has a clear process for acquisition planning within the BDF and Defence Sector that involves clear oversight…
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Q12
50/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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The Defence budget is available on an aggregate basis. Since the BDF does not have a standalone Ministry, the BDF budget is combined under…
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The legislature receives the budget at least 2 months before the budget proposals. The budget proposal is then debated in Parliament before the final…
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Q13
25/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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There is the Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice and Security Portfolio Committee which is appointed at the beginning of each Parliament for the Life of…
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The Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice, Security are appointed at the beginning of each Parliament stage during the life of the Parliament…
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Q14
50/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The approved budget is made public with some explanations, although, the explanations are not detailed enough for more detailed scrutiny [1]. However, the explanations…
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The approved budget is published as aggregated with reasonable information which may not be detailed enough in most cases [1]. The published budget is…
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There is not enough information on response to information requests to score this indicator. The formal mechanisms to request information are available to the…
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Q15
NEI/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. The only source of Defence funding that is known and published in the Central Government…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. As explained in 15A above, the only source of Defence funding that is known and…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. As explained in 15A above, the only source of Defence funding that is known and…
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Q16
38/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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BDF has a fully functional Internal Audit that was established in 2008. The operational issues of the BDF Internal Audit Department and its publications…
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Auditor General is among the external institutons that exercise oversight in summary form only [1]. In addition, the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence,…
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Auditor General is among the external institutons that exercise oversight in summary form only [1]. In addition, the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence,…
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The Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security sometimes address issues raised by both the Internal Audit and the Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence,…
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Q17
56/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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Although the Botswana Auditor General conducts an annual external audit of the Defence, there is little evidence of these audits. In addition, their other…
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The Office of the Auditor General is the Supreme Audit Institution of this country, which has been established under Section 124 of the Constitution…
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The external audit reports are published annually [1]. The OAG offers a range of audit services, including financial audit or certification audits, which are…
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Sometimes the Ministry makes references to the audit findings. Such statements often acknowledge the audit findings showing a commitment by the Ministry to make…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
67/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There are no legal restrictions that prohibit the BDF from engaging in business involving the natural resources of Botswana [1,2]. There is no legal…
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There is no evidence to the effect that the BDF is involved in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation [1,2].
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There is no evidence to the effect that the BDF officials are involved in businesses that relate to natural resources [1,2]. Officers are prohibited…
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There is no evidence that such interests exists, as such this indicator is marked Not Applicable. No such declarations have been made [1] and…
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There is no evidence that these interests are declared if at all they exist. As such, this indicator is scored ‘Not Applicable’. The Declaration…
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Organised Crime
Q19
75/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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Q20
75/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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The Botswana Police Force has a unit that deals with organised crime [1]. At one event, it was stated that “Botswana Police deputy commissioner,…
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These institutions are independent as far as the work of investigating organised crime is concerned [1]. Botswana recognises the need for increased cooperation between…
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At a domestic level, the policing and institutional structure is provided for in terms of the following legislation: the national legal framework against corruption…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
38/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The following institutions provide independent oversight over the budget of the intelligence services. Relevant authorities in preventing and countering corruption include the Directorate on…
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The meetings of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice and Security, specifically on DISS, are not scheduled or published. This makes…
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Q22
8/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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Senior positions within the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) are the prerogative of the President. The objectivity of the process remains unknown…
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Although there is some evidence that the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) is composed of former police, military and intelligence officers [1],…
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For the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DISS) there is little to no evidence of an external vetting process on promotion or even…
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Export Controls
Q23
NEI/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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On 7 June 2019, Botswana deposited (Accession) the Instrument to become a Party to the ATT. The ATT came into force on 5 September…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. The country has only recently deposited the ATT Instrument, therefore, it is too soon to…
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This indicator is marked ‘Not Applicable’ because Botswana does not manufacture or export arms aside from one isolated case in 2013 [1,2]. The circumstances…
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Lobbying in Defence
Botswana does not have a legal framework to regulate lobbying activities [1,2]. Further, the country has not indicated whether it will enact a lobbying…
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Botswana does not have a legal framework to regulate lobbying in general, let alone, lobbying of defence institutions [1,2]. As such, this indicator is…
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Botswana does not have a legal framework to regulate lobbying in general, let alone, lobbying of defence institutions [1,2]. As such, this indicator is…
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Botswana does not have a legal framework to regulate lobbying in general, let alone, lobbying of defence institutions [1,2]. As such, this indicator is…
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