Corruption costs Botswana and Africa money and lives

Good morning! Let’s get into it

Corruption Is Killing Us,Literally and Silently!

This morning, Botswana woke up to another tragic headline: a former senior official, reportedly involved in land board administration, allegedly took his own life shortly after being released on bail following corruption investigations by the DCEC.

This comes not long after the country was rocked by the suicide of a former Minister of Health—an incident reportedly tied to scandals of corruption and personal misconduct.

These are not just isolated tragedies. They are symptoms of a deeper sickness—corruption, and its quiet, lethal effect on our institutions, public services, and collective future.

Botswana’s Healthcare Is in Crisis—and Corruption Is a Core Culprit

Walk into any government clinic in Botswana today and you’ll encounter a sad reality:

• Shortages of essential medication.

• Outdated or broken medical equipment.

• Nurses overwhelmed, underpaid, and understaffed.

• Long queues with little service delivery.

The irony? Our health budgets run into the billions. But the public often sees so little return on that investment.

Every thebe that is misused or stolen through corrupt tenders, inflated contracts, ghost projects, or insider deals is money stolen from the sick, the elderly, expectant mothers, children in need of vaccines, and patients in need of cancer treatment.

When corruption infects the Ministry of Health, it doesn’t just erode trust—it costs lives.

This Is Not Just Botswana’s Problem — It’s Africa’s Cancer

According to the African Union, corruption costs the continent over $140 billion every year. That’s nearly 5% of Africa’s GDP, siphoned off through bribes, fraud, embezzlement, and abuse of power.

This is money that could fund:

• Free, quality healthcare across the continent.

• State-of-the-art hospitals in rural and urban areas.

• Research institutions to fight malaria, HIV, and cancer.

• A generation of medical students trained at home, not abroad.

But instead, we keep losing it to elite greed.

The Personal and the Political

Corruption doesn’t just appear on paper or in secret deals. It spills over into real life:

• It shows up in a mother losing her child because a public ambulance didn’t have fuel.

• It shows up in a cancer patient waiting months for chemo because machines are “under maintenance.”

• It shows up in broken leaders who take their own lives when the truth catches up.

We must not only mourn these tragedies. We must confront the system that made them possible.

What Needs to Change?

1. Transparency in government procurement and tenders.

2. Public accountability — ministers and directors must publish annual declarations of wealth.

3. Digital transformation — remove middlemen, use AI and blockchain to monitor spending.

4. Civic education — citizens must understand their right to demand better.

Corruption is a parasite. If left unchecked, it eats the soul of a nation, its hope, its potential—and in Botswana’s case, its ability to protect the health of its own people.

This is not just about punishment. It’s about saving lives.

And the longer we delay reforms, the more tragic headlines we’ll wake up to.