04 May 2017

It is not a norm for the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) to respond to every news article concerning the DCEC which appear in the media.

However, we are compelled to respond and set the record straight amid a recent misleading article by Sunday Standard that seem to suggest the DCEC neglects whistle blowers.

It is false, misleading with the intention to tarnish the good image of the DCEC to state that DCEC throws whistle-blower Ms Marang Teisi under the bus, when she was never a whistle-blower.

In her own words during an interview with the DCEC,  Ms Teisi indicated that she had left her draft affidavit in the drawer and she suspected that it was stolen by her colleague who took it to the former Member of Parliament.

DCEC would like to further more highlight that Ms Teisi was never a source for the DCEC, as she was interviewed with several other officers working at Statistics Botswana, together with the Statistician General Anna Majelantle.

Moreover, the newspaper should have cared to get the view of the DCEC to get our side of the story and not to publish the article without establishing the facts.

We wish to assure the public that we shall continue to carry out our duties and mandate with the highest professionalism, integrity and we advise the public that DCEC shall protect all whistleblowers and therefore encourage the public to continue reporting corruption because they are protected by the Whistle-Blowing Act of 2016. ENDS