Bangwaketse not amused by Khamas kgotla politics
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Outgoing president Lt General Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama seems to have rubbed some of Bangwaketse morafe the wrong way when he chose to speak politics in their Kgotla during his farewell visit to the Bangwaketse capital this week Tuesday.
The morafe is not pleased that Khama whose days as state president are numbered turned their main kgotla into a political ground, and particularly that he made advances at a Umbrella Democratic Change (UDC) Member of Parliament (MP) who was at the same farewell meeting.
The BDP leader during his address cajoled Kanye South legislator, Abram Kesupile, asking him to rejoin the Botswana Democratic Party. Prior to that Khama had conceded that it was not allowed that he spoke politics in the kgotla, however insisting that he could not hold back the urge to recruit Kesupile. Khama told the fully packed kgotla that he wanted Kesupile to rejoin his party and return home. According to Khama, Kesupile’s being in the opposition was as a result of him being in ‘lost’ as he really belonged with the BDP.
“Ke leboga mopalamente Kesupile go bua sentle ka nna, ke nale regret lefa resa tshwanela go bua dipolotiki mo kgotleng, regret ke gore okile wane onale rona obo ore tlogela mme ke batla gore o boele mo gae pele ke tlogela tiro.” (I thank MP Kesupile for speaking so well of me, and though we are not supposed to speak politics in the Kgotla, I have my regrets, which is that you used to be with us but you left. I want you to come back home before I retire).
Khama went on to say that he will approach Kesupile to rejoin the ruling party as he will have ample time after his retirement to show Kesupile the way to retrace his footsteps. For some, Khama‘s politicking was a sign of disrespect as the president obviously knew he was not supposed to bring politics in the kgotla setup. One Kanye resident who is also a tribal leader told WeekendPost in the sidelines of the kgotla meeting that the president’s actions have the potential of making their kgotla lose its respect and integrity. “It is very surprising what the president did. We are not used to that kind of thing where political discussions are brought up in the kgotla, we don’t have a problem with politics but they are not to be brought up in the kgotla anymore.”
Another resident, who is also a UDC follower expressed concern about the conduct and stated that, had Khama recruited Kesupile to his party in any other set up there would have not been a problem, but the problem arises when he chooses to use the kgotla for that. He said that the kgotla should be turned into a freedom square by anyone. “Bangwaketse main Kgotla has been one of the most respected areas over the years but if now politicians can come and talk their politics in it, it loses that attached respect, it is not good and I am expecting our dikgosi to condemn this, it should never happen again in future,” the unhappy resident said.
When reached for comment about the president‘s remarks, Kesupile said UDC members should rest assured that he will not be shaken despite Khama’ s public courting of him to BDP. The soft spoken legislator pointed out that he has been aware of the ruling party’s being interested in him and said ‘‘I am not surprised about what he (Khama) said in front of the multitudes of Bangwaketse because they (BDP) have been courting me for some time and I will not join them.”
Kesupile said for now, he is committed to the UDC because he is in the position he is in because of the Botswana National Front ticket and he has been delegated by the people who he will not betray at all by joining BDP. “Nna ke romilwe ke ma BNF kafa tlase ga UDC ebile ga nkake ka tsewa ke phefo ka nna mo Domkrag, nyaa ga gona sepe seo.”
He also pointed out that he has been approached by three current cabinet ministers before and he turned them all down. He added that he knew that Khama was serious when he said he would approach him again in person and he is sure he would turn him down too. At the meeting, Khama told Kanye villagers that their water shortage crisis will be dealt with as the village will be connected to the North-South carrier project with the process to begin this year. He was responding to a plea by Kgosi Malope II who indicated that the village was faced with water supply challenges, and called on the government to rectify the issue.
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ENVIRONMENT ISSUES: Masisi asks Virginia for help
President Mokgweetsi Masisi says the issue of sustainable natural resources management has always been an important part of Botswana’s national development agenda.
Masisi was speaking this week on the occasion of a public lecture at Virginia Polytechnic, under theme, “Merging Conservation, Democracy and Sustainable Development in Botswana.”
Botswana, according to Masisi, holds the view that the environment is fragile and as such, must be managed and given the utmost protection to enable the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“It is necessary that we engage one another in the interchange of ideas, perspectives, visualizations of social futures, and considerations of possible strategies and courses of action for sustainable development,” said Masisi.
On the other hand, dialogue, in the form of rigorous democratic discourse among stakeholders presents another basis for reconfiguring how people act on their environments, with a view to conserving its resources that “we require to meet our socio-economic development needs on a sustainable basis,” Masisi told attendees at the public lecture.
He said government has a keen interest in understanding the epidemiology and ecology of diseases of both domestic and wild animals. “It is our national interest to forestall the dire consequences of animal diseases on our communities livelihoods.”
President Masisi hoped that both Botswana and Virginia could help each other in curbing contagious diseases of wildlife.
“We believe that Virginia Tech can reasonably share their experiences, research insights and advances in veterinary sciences and medicines, to help us build capacity for knowledge creation and improve efforts of managing and containing contagious diseases of wildlife. The ground is fertile for entering into such a mutually beneficial partnership.”
When explaining environmental issues further, Masisi said efforts of conservation and sustainable development might at times be hampered by the emergence and recurrence of diseases when pathogens mutate and take host of more than one species.
“Water pollution also kills aquatic life, such as fish, which is one of humanity’s much deserved sources of food. In this regard, One Health Approach imposes ecological responsibility upon all of us to care for the environment and the bio-diversity therein.”
He said the production and use of animal vaccines is an important space and tool for conservation, particularly to deal with trans-border animal diseases.
“In Botswana, our 43-year-old national premier pharmaceutical institution called Botswana Vaccine Institute has played its role well. Through its successful production of highly efficacious Foot and Mouth vaccines, the country is able to contain this disease as well as supply vaccines to other countries in the sub-region.:
He has however declared that there is need for more help, saying “We need more capacitation to deal with and contain other types of microbial that affect both animals and human health.”
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Masisi saddened by deaths of elephant attacks
President Mokgweetsi Masisi has expressed a strong worry over elephants killing people in Botswana. When speaking in Virginia this week, Masisi said it is unfortunate that Batswana have paid a price with their own blood through being attacked by elephants.
“Communities also suffer unimaginable economic losses yearly when their crops are eaten by the elephants. In spite of such incidents of human-elephant conflict, our people embrace living together with the animals. They fully understand wildlife conservation and its economic benefits in tourism.”
In 2018, Nthobogang Samokwase’s father was attacked by an elephant when travelling from the fields, where he stayed during the cropping season.
It was reported that the man couldn’t run because of his age. He was found trampled by the elephant and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
In the same year, in Maun, a 57-year-old British woman was attacked by an elephant at Boro and died upon arrival at the hospital. The woman was with her Motswana partner, and were walking dogs in the evening.
Last month, a Durban woman named Carly Marshall survived an elephant attack while on holiday in the bush in Botswana. She was stabbed by one of the elephant’s tucks through the chest and was left with bruises. Marshall also suffered several fractured ribs from the ordeal.
President Masisi Botswana has the largest population of African elephants in the world, totaling more than 130 000. “This has been possible due to progressive conservation policies, partnerships with the communities, and investment in wildlife management programmes.”
In order to benefit further from wildlife, Masisi indicated that government has re-introduced controlled hunting in 2019 after a four-year pause. “The re-introduction of hunting was done in an open, transparent and democratic way, giving the communities an opportunity to air their views. The funds from the sale of hunting quota goes towards community development and elephant conservation.”
He stressed that for conservation to succeed, the local people must be involved and derive benefits from the natural resources within their localities.
“There must be open and transparent consultations which involve all sectors of the society. It is against this backdrop that as a country, we lead the continent on merging conservation, democracy and sustainable development.”
Masisi stated that Botswana is open to collaborative opportunities, “particularly with identifiable partners such as Virginia Tech, in other essential areas such as conservation, and the study of the interplay among the ecology of diseases of wild animals and plants, and their effects on human health and socio-economic development.”
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Gov’t commit to injecting more funds in fighting HIV
Minister for State President Kabo Morwaeng says government will continue to make resources available in terms of financial allocations and human capital to ensure that Botswana achieves the ideal of eradicating HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
Morwaeng was speaking this morning in Gaborone at the High-Level Advocacy event to accelerate HIV Prevention in Botswana. He said the National AIDS and Health Promotion Agency (NAPHA), in partnership with UNAIDS, UN agencies, the Global Fund and PEPFAR, have started a process of developing transition readiness plan for sustainability of HIV prevention and treatment programmes.
“It is important for us, as a country that has had a fair share of donor support in the response to an epidemic such as HIV and AIDS, to look beyond the period when the level of assistance would have reduced, or ceased, thus calling for domestic financing for all areas which were on donor support.”
Morwaeng said this is important as the such a plan will guarantee that all the gains accrued from the response with donor support will be sustained until the end when “we reach the elimination of HIV and AIDS as a public health threat by 20230,” he said.
“I commit to continue support efforts towards strengthened HIV prevention, accentuating HIV primary prevention and treatment as prevention towards Zero New Infections, Zero Stigma, Discrimination and Zero AIDS related death, to end AIDS in Botswana.”
He reiterated that government commits to tackle legislative, policy and programming challenges that act as barriers to the achievement of the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
In the financial year 2022/2023, a total of 119 Civil Society Organizations, including Faith Based Organizations, were contracted with an amount of P100 million to implement HIV and NCDs prevention activities throughout the country, and the money was drawn from the Consolidated Fund.
Through an upcoming HIV Prevention Symposium, technical stakeholders will use outcomes to develop the Botswana HIV Prevention Acceleration Road Map for 2023-2025.
Morwaeng stated that government will support and ensure that Botswana plays its part achieving the road map. He said there is need to put hands on the deck to ensure that Botswana sustains progress made so far in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
“There are tremendous achievements thus far to, reach and surpass the UNAIDS fast track targets of 95%- 95%- 95% by the year 2025. As reflected by the BAIS preliminary results of 2021, we now stand at 95- 98- 98 against the set targets.”
“These achievements challenge us to now shift our gears and strive to know who are the remaining 5% for those aware of their HIV status, 2% of enrolment on treatment by those aware of their status and 2% of viral suppression by those on treatment.”
Explaining this further, Morwaeng said shift in gears should extend to coming up with robust strategies of determining where these remaining people are as well as how they will be reached with the necessary services.
“These are just some of the many variables that are required to ensure that as a country, we are well positioned to reaching the last mile of our country’s response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic.”