Towards a Safe and Secure Nation: The First Consultative Conference on Firearm Control, Ownership and Administration in Botswana, 13-15 May,

Introductory remarks and objectives by the Commissioner or Police - Mr I S I S Moleboge

It is my honour and pleasure to make these introductory remarks as well as to give a brief overview of the conference to this gathering.

Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, our governments and police Services are faced with the challenge of controlling the proliferation and illicit trade in not only small arms and light weapons, but also arms and weapons of mass destruction. The atrocities caused by small arms, which find themselves in the hands of the wrong people, cannot be overemphasised. As police organizations we record on a daily basis fatalities resulting from weapons obtained both legally and illegally. Members of the public have lost, and continue to loose as we speak now, their valuable property and loved ones through, amongst others, car-jacking, armed robberies, etc.
Undoubtedly you will be aware that firearms pose a serious threat to legitimate governments throughout the world, particularly where they were allowed to circulate with minimum control. You will learn of and appreciate as the conference progresses in the next two days, what resources some governments have already put in place to curb this problem at the expense of more serious problems of disease and starvation.
As individual governments, rich or poor, powerful or otherwise, we cannot root-out the problems of trade in illegal firearms or reduce the high demand for arms generated by the growth in this illegal trade, and the desire to protect ourselves from those possessing such arms, if we did not collaborate our efforts and agree to get together to address this problem. It is common knowledge that as the African continent, we do not manufacture the majority of firearms, yet these are found enmass in the hands of our people. It is imperative that the producer and the consumer agree on the distribution of this commodity. This way it will be easier for us as governments to regulate possession and usage of arms in circulation in our countries.
In 1999, the SADC summit held in Maputo directed that SADC should pay attention to issues of Small Arms and light weapons and then mandated the Southern African Regional Police Chiefs Cooperation Organisation (SARPCCO) to develop a SADC Policy on firearms. This policy translated into a protocol which was signed by heads of state in August 2001.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, the government of Botswana has taken a conscious decision to hold this conference, with the Civil Society and SaferAfrica as partners. Like our sister countries, we are driven by our desire to rid our nation of these illegal dealing in arms that cause untold suffering to our people. People of Botswana are relatively safe and free of these arms in terms of the peace and tranquility reigning in the country. You will, however, learn through the week that the state of economies of states like ours attracts undesirable characters. Armed robberies are common and the investor confidence is starting to diminish as some of them have fallen victims to these armed attacks.
The aim of this conference is to conduct nation-wide consultations for the development of more effective measures and sound strategies for the long-term control of firearms in Botswana and to enhance public safety and security.
As we deliberate on the problems of the proliferation and illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, you are asked at the end of the conference to have addressed yourselves to the following objectives:
- To further develop the consultative process in Botswana on Firearm regulation, ownership and administration.
- To raise public awareness amongst the community and civil society in general on the need to regulate firearms and to improve personal and commercial safety standards in Botswana.
- To improve the existing information on the status of firearms-related problems in Botswana and to obtain assistance from civil society to this effect.
- To improve Botswana's capacity to sustain its commitment to the SADC Protocol on Firearms, including improvement of information exchange, border controls and regional plans of action.
- To reaffirm Botswana's commitments to the Bamako and United Nations Programme of Action initiatives of the African Union and the United Nations.
Your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, in meeting the above objectives you would have helped this country and indeed the rest of the sub-region and Africa as a whole by putting in place mechanisms that will afford us the opportunity to meaningfully implement the resolutions, commitments and initiatives of the now African Union and the United Nations.
In conclusion, your Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, this conference will indeed lay the foundation for a safe and secure Botswana free of crime resulting from the use of illegal arms and light weapons. Therefore, the outcomes of this conference will in future save millions of human lives not only in Botswana but throughout the world.

Thank you.