FRANCISTOWN: Local economic and security experts are in agreement that the discontinuation of passports to cross the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe will cause more harm than good to the interests of the former.

President Mokgweetsi Masisi recently told a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) gathering that he will soon meet with his Zimbabwe counterpart, Emmerson Mnangagwa to discuss the possibility of citizens of the two countries using national identity cards (IDs) for border crossing.

Masisi stated that the move will facilitate easy movement of people and goods between Botswana and Zimbabwe. He also said advanced technology will be used at the borders to prevent some criminal elements from abusing the dispensation.

If the deal comes to pass, it will be similar to the one that Botswana recently entered into with Namibia.The contemplated deal between Botswana and Zimbabwe was met with aplomb and derision on social media platforms.

According to an economic expert at SPECK Dynamics, Sennye Obuseng, the deal will have far reaching consequences to the economic and security interests of Botswana should it come into fruition. Obuseng said: “People doing business between Botswana and Zimbabwe already have passports.

The deal will have little economic significance to traders especially in Botswana. The proposal will in fact make our borders porous. From a security standpoint, IDs do not have tight security features compared to passports and as such, they are prone to be abused by some people.”

In addition, Obuseng stated that Botswana has been negatively affected by issues of crime committed by Zimbabweans who crossed the border illegally.

In retrospect, according to Obuseng, the crime rate in Botswana will significantly increase if citizens of Zimbabwe are allowed to enter the country using IDs. “We already have a problem of immigrants from Zimbabwe who have entered Botswana illegally. The use of IDs will exacerbate crime in Botswana,” Obuseng lamented.

In fact, there is documentary evidence from the courts in Botswana that shows that poor economic conditions in Zimbabwe have forced some Zimbabweans to enter Botswana using ungazetted points of entry.

The status quo is already giving some Batswana goose bumps because of the anticipated large numbers of Zimbabweans who will arrive in Botswana through the envisaged new dispensation.

In recent years, Botswana has been in the throes of armed robbery cases which are committed by some locals, South Africans and their Zimbabwe counterparts.

Some of these heinous crimes, which are not limited to bombing of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), have resulted in the death of the perpetrators, members of the public and security agents.

Meanwhile, some social media commentators who are against the use of IDs to cross the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe may to a certain extent feel vindicated by crime statistics (2022) from Zimbabwe as per The Herald newspaper, Botswana’s equivalent of the Daily News.

Zimbabwe has recorded an upsurge in violent crimes in recent years, prompting the police to set up a specialised task force to deal with the rising violent criminal activity, according to The Herald.

According to police statistics, between January to September last year, general crime increased from 283,973 to 301,719 when compared to the same period last year.

The Zimbabwe Police Commissioner General, Godwin Matanga said cases of armed robbery involving large sums of money were a serious cause of concern and challenged police officers to come up with strategies and measures to curb such activities. Nearly 19,000 of robberies and over 3 500 murders were recorded in Zimbabwe between January 2020 and December 2021, official statistics show.

Data obtained from Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) shows there were 9,364 cases of robbery (armed) in 2020, while 9,515 similar cases (armed) were recorded in 2021. This translates to an average of 24 cases of robbery occurring daily.

The police also handled 917 cases of illegal firearms possession over the same period, with 472 cases being recorded in 2020 while there were 445 in 2021. In addition, there were 1,614 murder cases reported in 2020, a figure that rose sharply to 1,969 the following year, official data shows.

A security expert, Major General Pius Mokgware, is also skeptical about Masisi’s plan. Mokgware said while the anticipated move by Masisi has the potential to boost trade between Botswana and Zimbabwe, it is also a double edged sword.

From Mokgware’s perspective, Botswana will benefit less from the envisaged deal.

“Population wise, our economy is very small while the population of Zimbabwe is huge. My concern about this proposal is how secure are our IDs. Do our security agents and other stakeholders who deal with IDs have machines that can read and verify if IDs from Zimbabwe are authentic in case they suspect that someone from Zimbabwe may be in possession of a fake ID?”, he wondered.

Mokgware, a former deputy commander of the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), ground forces, said before Masisi implements his idea, he should make sure that all things are in place to prevent criminal elements from Zimbabwe from abusing the dispensation.

The former Member of Parliament (MP) for Gabane-Mankgodi also lamented that issues of cross border crime (cattle rustling, poaching amongst others) are rife along border villages in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

“Taking the above into account, imagine what will happen to the economy of Francistown if over 500 people from Zimbabwe cross the border into Botswana daily using IDs. Some of these visitors will solely cross the border to commit crimes which is detrimental to the economy of Francistown and the country at large. We should tread carefully before we implement this idea,” said Mokgware.

For Xu Ronglei, Masisi’s proposal can be described by the phrase, “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”. Xu, a Chinese businessman who operates along Haskins Street popularly known as Zimbabwe Street because it is most frequented by people from Zimbabwe, welcomed Masisi’s idea with open hands. The Chinese business community along the Bulawayo Street mostly get their customers from Zimbabwe.

Xu said: “President Masisi’s plan is a great one and it has the interests of traders in Botswana and Zimbabwe at heart. The plan will surely boost the economies of Botswana, Zimbabwe and regional integration. I thank President Masisi for conceiving such a great idea.”