Dereje and I have been very lucky in that we have never been stopped by a police check point while driving….On Friday night, our luck ran out. The really tough thing is that our luck ran out at 12:30am. So, here's how a check point works: A police officer with an automatic weapon strapped on his shoulder (some might call it "flare") stops cars in a line and then one by one waves the car to his side. He then says absolutely nothing as he walks around the car. His next step is to do one of two things: One, he waves you on. Two, he tells you to pull over to the side of the road and "wait for him." Dereje and I received the later treatment (which is really confusing to two foreigners that can't get any of the officers to explain what is happening). Apparently, the vehicle registration was expired. What are the solutions to this issue? Pay a fine you might say? Sure, that sounds reasonable…but no. The solution in Botswana is that you have to get out of your car and leave it on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and find your own way home, and then collect your car from a compound (described as a field of cars that you have to just walk through to find your own car) after you get a new registration. Did I mention that it is midnight at this point?
Luckily for me, Dereje was as unwilling as I was to accept this as a solution. In fact, I didn't even know that's what was being required of us because I stayed in the car the entire forty minutes that he was arguing with the officers (but I had kind of guessed by the actions of everyone else). So, the solution that Dereje came up with was that he would take me home and then come back to the checkpoint at six in the morning to reclaim his drivers license and give a promise that he would re-register the car before driving it again. Apparently, we were given special allowances for which Dereje expresses a lot of gratitude about…but I still can't help getting angry at all of the security issues it raises to stop people at that time of night, tell them to leave their car, and find their own way home. The one thing that Dereje did tell me he was amazed at, was that nobody was arguing with the officers…they just handed over their keys and went on their way…I guess that's what you do when an officer is talking to you about your registration with an automatic weapon strapped to their shoulder…it just doesn't seem right to me.
6 comments:
WOW!!! making folk walk at midnight is very insensitive...so not Botswana!
I find your story unbeliveable/interesting given that Botswana Police Service officers DO NOT carry guns when carrying out normal duties(this includes when they go to arrest a suspect) unless in pursuit of an armed and dangerous suspect(Heck they dont even carry pepper sprays.Make it a point to check this out next time during DAYLIGHT).Are you sure it was automatic guns you saw?
They were definitely automatic weapons...the checkpoint was being manned by BDF (Who always carry weapons when on duty)...I am quite aware of the practices of Botswana Police but I thank you for your input-
Seems the above "anonymous" is right that it was not the Bots 'police', rather the Bots Defence Force. Still very interesting in that the DF is doing police work; but that may be OK in Bots. Regardless, am curious who directed this activity? Raise revenue? Doesn't seem to be a disguised effort to entrap illegals, etc, but maybe? Regardless, the execution does appear to be heavy-handed and ill conceived by some other standards, perhaps a chance for responsible elected officials to learn and maybe improve individual rights/treatment versus some broader, ill defined societal good.......the "anon' above is technically correct, perhaps, and baited you to provide clarification and confirmation that you know the difference between an AK-47, M-16, or some other automatic weapon.
Expect that 'anon' above is in an official security postion somewhere.........(from: your quarky friend...)
What a lively conversation over what ultimately is an issue of semantics. Nothing like throwing barbs under an anon name. I think it might be time to ask that people who post comments here are upfront about who they are. Therefore, I have disabled the anon option on Manda's blog.
Second Anon, you sound quite articulate...it is a wonder that you don't have a blog out there to share with the world.
I will concur: Anon number 2, whoever you are, you are articulate...and wordy I might add...I do agree that maybe you have pent up opinions that need an outlet. As for the intense debate as to what the Botswana Defense Force was or was not doing...I think it's simple. They picked an offense to look for on each car, and then they dealt with the cars the best way they can...since we are not computerized here in Botswana, one of the only ways to ensure compliance is to make the consequence immediate...simple as that. Props to megan for dropping the anon stuff...I always find it refreshing to know who I am talking to!
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