Botswana and Zimbabwe police chiefs recently reaffirmed their commitment to disrupt and dismantle activities of illicit cross border networks, particularly profiting from illegal mining in the North East district.
Botswana Police Service Commissioner Dinah Marathe and her Zimbabwean counterpart Commissioner Stephen Mutamba converged last week in Francistown for a bi-lateral meeting to tackle illegal mining and cross border crime.
“Illegal mining in the North East region of Botswana continues to be a significant and growing challenge; involving Botswana and Zimbabwe citizens. The rampant illicit mining has led to environmental damage, hazardous loss of lives of miners themselves during these illicit operations. Persistence of this unlawful activity has adverse environmental and economic impacts”, said Commissioner Marathe.
She said despite government’s efforts to secure and seal off these old gold disused mines, perpetrators always find ways to dig new holes, trenches, ditches and furrows to facilitate illegal mining.
Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner, Mutamaba concurred that,” transnational menaces, fueled organised crimes result in significant financial leakages which deprive our economies of vital revenue.”
“Illegal mining poses a grave threat to our environmental sustainability through land degradation and pollution of our precious water sources. It becomes very expensive to rehabilitate. This type of mining must not be allowed in our regions. Furthermore, no single agency or nation can combat this complex web of criminality alone. Our success hinges on our ability to harmonise our strategies, share intelligence in real time and conduct coordinated operations”, emphasised Commissioner Mutamba.
Operatives of the two police services resolved to create a digital communication platform and share intelligence in real time for quick interventions in intercepting criminals. To make full use of INTERPOL’s policing tools and communication channels to enhance the exchange of intelligence and improve cross border investigations.
Botswana Police Service (BPS) and Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) also agreed to extend future bilateral discussions to include military commanders and other Director Generals of relevant security agencies. They also agreed for BPS and ZRP to hold annual bilateral meetings to review progress made, share experiences, educate and evaluate the agreed resolutions.
The Police Services will also engage communities and traditional leaders along the borders of their respective countries, to lobby for support in fighting illegal mining and cross border crime. Finally, for a joint technical committee to embark on a visit to Zimbabwe to assess the progress on agreed areas cooperation, as well as explore other strategies to enhance the effectiveness of operations.
