Private sector supports BIUST Phikwe campus debate
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Botswana’s private sector lobby group, Business Botswana, has practically thrown all the advocacy weight behind the idea of relocating Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST)’s Departments of Mining and Geology from Palapye to Selibe Phikwe.
The private Sector federation has welcomed the suggested move saying that it would first and foremost go a long way in turning around the economy of Selibe Phikwe and surrounding areas. Business Botswana Vice President, Palalani Moithobogi told WeekendPost in a previous interview that BIUST is a partner to the private sector as a research, innovation and ground breaking solution seeking institution.
Moithobogi had observed that Phikwe has all necessary equipment to establish a department of geology and Mining or a fully fleshed college of engineering campus. Moithobogi’s view was that, the campus would complement the revitalization efforts in Phikwe as well as government’s mission of turning Botswana into a knowledge based economy.
Selibe Phikwe West Member of Parliament, Dithapelo Keorapetse had tabled the motion in parliament a fortnight ago. In the motion debated in parliament on the 10th of March, Keorapetse had asked Parliament to request government to relocate BIUST Mining and Geology academic services to Selibe Phikwe with a satellite engineering campus established in Phikwe. Keorapetse had argued that the relocation would develop Selibe Phikwe into an innovation and research academic centre, a move he added would undoubtedly go a long way in turning around the economy of Selibe Phikwe and the entire SPEDU region.
“Mr Speaker, when you go to other countries, I will give two examples from South Africa. When you take the town of Stellenbosch, the mainstay of the economy of the town of Stellenbosch is Stellenbosch University. So the university is very important in breathing economic life to the town of say Stellenbosch, when you go to Grahams town, there is Rhodes University,” he said
”Mr Speaker, another practice when you go to other countries is that you can have a university headquartered in a city or a town and then have faculties or schools or departments relocated in the neighbouring towns, When you look at the distance of Palapye and Selebi Phikwe, it is around plus 100 kilometres. It is very possible that we can relocate the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering of the College of Engineering and Technology at BIUST from Palapye to Selebi Phikwe to establish a BIUST Selebi Phikwe Campus,” he explained to parliament.
Keorapetse observed that for purposes of practicals, the BCL Mine would come in handy. “It will be even more appropriate if the mine is re- opened with either private investors partnering with Government or whatever the case may be, It will be even more appropriate if the mine is running,” he said.
Business Botswana strongly accedes to this view: “Before the liquidation, there were apprentices who did their practicals for various disciplines at Selebi Phikwe Technical College at the BCL Mine. So I think that when you go to a country like France, to prevent what formerly was mining towns from becoming ghost towns, those places which were mined were turned into museums and they also offered practical’s for disciplines in mining related science and engineering programmes.”
Business Botswana who noted that their interests in the issue are business facilitation and concept commercializing anchored, are of the view that entrepreneurship and other private sector led economic activities can emerge simultaneously form such a development.
“ We are looking at long term SPEDU region economic transformation, thus when an institution of the magnitude of a university campus is built here, the Small, Medium Enterprises will flourish, accommodation rentals, transport; the economic activities unearthed as a result are very obvious and clear even to lame man,” said Moithobogi.
In an interview this week, Keorapetse further told WeekendPost that the move will be a long term complementation to Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry Phikwe Revitalization Efforts towards fulfilling the aspiration of making sure that Selibe Phikwe does not become a ghost town.
It will be costly for government
However the move has received mixed reactions from the legislators, Minister of Tertiary Education, Research and Technology, Mr Alfred Madigele aggrieved that the undertaking would be costly to his ministry. “The proposal to relocate the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering to Selebi Phikwe from BIUST in Palapye is not plausible as it will come at a huge cost to the Government of Botswana. It will be tantamount to building another BUIST in Selebi Phikwe,” he said. He further argued that BIUST’s academic service delivery will be negatively affected.
“Detaching and relocating the Department of Mining and Geological Engineering to Selebi Phikwe will cost daunting logistical and operational difficulties for both the students and the staff, in particular there is the need for comprehensive library facilities and resources as well as teaching laboratories which we all believe are an integral part of the education process and cannot be over-emphasized,” he said.
Madigele noted that various departments and colleges at BIUST share common resources, from sharing common facilities like lecturers, professors, laboratories, libraries to other administrative and logistical facilities. “By the current structure which is currently being used at BIUST, year ones and year twos in the College of Engineering and Technology have to take common courses like Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Statistics like their counterparts in the College of Information and Communications Technology; that is the first and second year students, ” he noted and further stated that the departments of Mining and Geological Engineering offered programs which comprise common courses offered by the three (3) colleges at BIUST and use the same laboratories, using the same workshop facilities like others in the three colleges.
Government to consider the move in future
Meanwhile, Business Botswana believes that the cost can be overlapped by coming up with an arrangement that allows for partnership in setting up the campus: “The government doesn’t have to bear the costs alone, when you look at the research labs, innovation packs, the BCL metallurgy and mechanical workshops, they can be run independently by private sector businesses and BUIST would just have to devise a partnership model.”
According to Business Botswana, the campus arrangement, especially support services like accommodation for lectures, university staff as well as other institution sectors like business facilities, can be developed by private sector or other government parastatals like Botswana Innovation Hub and BITRI just to name a few.
Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington South, Ndaba Gaolathe, was among those who supported the move to have the BIUST campus relocated to Phikwe. According to him, the development would also enhance learning at BIUST and turn the institution into a world-class research and innovation academic institution.
“Thank you Honourable Member of Parliament Keorapetse, for a motion that I think is worth considering. If you look at the tradition of universities, the tradition of academic rigor, the tradition of intellectual pursuit, you will find that universities that have been successful around the world, that have contributed profoundly to the body of knowledge are universities that have multiple campuses,” Gaolathe said.
He observed that the move would provide yet another opportunity not only for BIUST, but for Botswana Institute for Technology Research and Innovation (BITRI), both of which fall under Minister Madigele’s portfolio. Parliament ended up amending the motion to move from the house requesting government to relocate the campus from Palapye to Phikwe and settled for “Government to consider the relocation in future.” Member of Parliament for Nata-Gweta Polson Majaga moved the amendment.
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BMD disapproves homosexuality
The newly elected Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD) Executive Committee led by Pastor Reverend Thuso Tiego has declared their disapproval of homosexuality saying it is anti-Christianity and Botswana culture.
Speaking at a Media Briefing this past week, BMD President Tiego said Botswana has been a country that respects culture hence endorsing homosexuality will be catastrophic.
“Our young generation grew up being taught about types of families, if homosexuality is passed, at what age will our children be introduced to homosexuality?” he rhetorically asked.
He continued: “If we are going to allow homosexuality then the next day, another person will come and say he wants to practice bestiality. What are we going to do because we have already allowed for this one (homosexuality) and at the end it will be a total mess.” Bestiality is sexual relations between a human being and an animal
This according to Tiego will give those people an opportunity thus disrupting known Botswana beliefs. He however dismissed any notion that the decision to condemn homosexuality should not be linked to the top two of the committee who are men of cloth. “This is a decision by the whole committee which respects the culture of Botswana and it should not be perceived that because we are clergymen we are influencing them, but even if we do, politics and religion are inter-related.”
Of late the church and the human rights organization have been up in arms because of the high court decision to allow for same sex marriages. Ministries ganged up, petitioned parliament and threatened to vote out any legislator who will support the idea. The ruling party, BDP which was to table the amendment in the constitution, ended up deferring it.
BMD President further revealed that he is aware of what really led to the split of the party and he is on course to transform as they approach 2024 elections.
“There are so many factors that led to split of party amongst others being leadership disputes, personal egos and ambitions, toxic factionalism and ideological difference just to mention a few, but we are transforming the party and I am confident that we will do well in the coming elections.
In addition, Tiego is hopeful that they will take the government as they feel it is time to rebrand Botswana politics and bring in fresh blood of leaders.
He further hinted that they are coming with positive transformation as they eye to better the lives of Batswana.
“When we assume government, we promise to be transparent, free and fair electoral processes and encourage pluralism as way of getting back to our roots of being a democratic country as it seems like the current government has forgotten about that important aspect,” Tiego explained.
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North Korea diplomats in suspected illegal ivory trade
Reeling under the increasing barrage of stinging international sanctions, the isolated North Korean regime is reportedly up to its old trickery, this time in a more complicated web of murky operations that have got the authorities of five southern African countries at sixes and sevens as they desperately try to tighten their dragnet around Pyongyang’s spectral network of illicit ivory and rhino horn trade.
It is an intricate network of poaching for elephant tusks and rhino horns that spans Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, with the main sources of the contraband being Botswana and South Africa.
The syndicate running the illegal trafficking of the poached contraband is suspected to be controlled by two shadowy North Korean government operatives with close links to one Han Tae-song, a disgraced North Korean career diplomat who, while serving as the second secretary at his country’s embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, was expelled in 1992 after he was fingered as the mastermind behind a similar illegal ring that was busted by the country’s authorities.
This disturbing tale of malfeasance by North Korean state actors is as real as it gets.
Recent reports indicate that authorities in the source countries are jointly battling to plug holes created by the shadowy syndicate which allegedly has on its payroll, park rangers, border officials and cross-border truck drivers.
Even more disturbing are allegations that some wildlife officials are conniving in misrepresenting numbers of retrieved rhino horns and ivory from poachers and getting kickbacks for their involvement in the pilfering of ivory and rhino horns from government stockpiles especially in South Africa.
In a shocking and well-orchestrated movie-style heist in South Africa, thieves in June this year made off with 51 rhino horns after breaking into a very secure government stockpile facility of the North West Parks Board (NWPB).
While some suspects from South Africa and Malawi were nabbed in a government sting operation, none of the rhino horns – 14 of which were very large specimens that can fetch serious money on the black market – were recovered.
A report of the heist said the police were lethargic by eight hours in responding to an emergency alert of the robbery which was described by North West police spokesperson Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone as “… a case of business robbery…”
Thabang Moko, a security analyst in Pretoria says the military precision in the burglary, delays in police response, and failure to recover the stolen rhino horns is dubious. “This development lends credence to suspicions that some government officials could be part of a shadowy syndicate run by foreign buyers of rhino horns and ivory,” Moko says.
It is understood that in light of the rhino horns heist in North West, South Africa’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Barbara Creecy on 1 August, shared her concerns to her counterparts in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique calling for greater regional cooperation to combat the illegal wildlife trafficking which she believes is being masterminded by the Far East’s buyers of the ill-gotten horns and ivory.
It is believed that foreign kingpins involved in perpetuating the illegal trade are mainly North Koreans vying against Vietnamese and Cambodian buyers in the quest for dominance of the illicit trade in rhino horns and ivory sourced from southern Africa.
Creecy’s concerns, which she also shared to South Africa’s state-run broadcaster SABC, echoed Moko’s worries that the North West heist may have been an inside job.
According to Creecy, there was a need for the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol)’s greater involvement in joint investigations by affected countries as there were indications of ‘local knowledge’ of the North West job and that syndicates, “Higher up the value chain actually recruit park rangers to the illegal ivory trade network.”
Botswana’s Environment and Tourism Minister Philda Kereng is on national record admitting that poaching was a source of headaches to her government, especially considering that the daring poachers were making successful incursions into secure areas protected by the Botswana Defence Force (BDF).
This came after poachers gunned down two white rhinos at the BDF-protected Khama Rhino Sanctuary in August 2022 despite Kereng putting the time frame of the killings between October and November 2022.
Kereng hinted at the existence of Asian controlled syndicates and acknowledged that the surge in poaching in Botswana is driven by the “increased demand for rhino horn on the international market” where in Asia rhino horns are believed to be potent in traditional medicines and for their imagined therapeutic properties.
Botswana has in the past recorded an incident of a group of an all-Asian reconnaissance advance team teams being nabbed by the country’s intelligence service in the Khama Rhino Sanctuary.
Masquerading as tourists, the group, with suspected links to North Korea and China, was discovered to be collecting crucial data for poachers.
Also according to reliable information at hand, an undisclosed number of wildlife parks rangers were arrested between September 2022 and January this year, after information surfaced that they connived in the smuggling of rhino horns and ivory from Botswana.
One of the rangers reportedly admitted getting paid to falsify information on recovered horns and ivory which were smuggled out of the country through its vast and porous eastern border with South Africa, and making their way to their final destination in Mozambique via back roads and farmlands in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
“We are aware that in the past year, some rhino horns and ivory illegally obtained from Botswana through poaching activities and shady deals by some elements within our wildlife and national parks department, have found their way out of the country and end up in Mozambique’s coastal ports for shipment to the Far East,” a Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) source says.
Independent investigations reveal that two North Korean buyers, one of them only identified as Yi Kang-dae [confirmed to be an intelligence official in the country’s state security apparatus], acting on behalf of the disgraced Han Tae-song, financed the entire operation on two occasions between 2022 and 2023, to move at least 18 rhino horns and 19 elephant tusks from Botswana, including pay-offs – mostly to border patrol and customs officials for safe passage – along the knotty conduit across South Africa’s north western lands, then across south-eastern Zimbabwe into Mozambique.
According to a trusted cross-border transport operator in Zimbabwe, the rhino horns and elephant tusks were illegally handed over to smugglers in Mozambique at an obscure illegal crossing point 15km north of Zimbabwe’s Forbes Border Post in November 2022 and February this year.
The end buyers in Mozambique? “It is quite an embarrassment for us, but we have solid evidence that two North Korean buyers, one of them who is linked to a former notorious diplomat from that country who has been in the past involved in such illegal activities in Zimbabwe, oversaw the loading of rhino horns and ivory onto a China-bound ship from one of our ports,” a top government source in Maputo said before declining to divulge more information citing ongoing investigations.
Yi Kang-dae and his accomplice’s whereabouts are presently unclear to Mozambican authorities whose dragnet reportedly recently netted some key actors of the network. Han Tae-song currently serves as North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations in Switzerland.
North Korean diplomats have in the past used Mozambique as a final transit point for the shipment of rhino horns to the Far East.
In May 2015, Mozambican authorities nabbed two North Koreans, one of them a Pretoria-based diplomat and political counsellor identified as Pak Chol-jun after they were caught in possession of 4.5kg of rhino horn pieces and US$100,000 cash.
Pak’s accomplice, Kim Jong-su, a Taekwondo instructor also based in South Africa, was fingered as a North Korean spy and returned to North Korea under suspicious circumstances on the heels of Pak’s expulsion from South Africa in November 2016.
A security source in Zimbabwe closely following current developments says there is a big chance that Han Tae-song may have revived the old smuggling network he ran while posted in Zimbabwe in the 90s.
“The biting international sanctions against North Korea in the past decade may have prompted Han to reawaken his network which has been dormant for some time,” the source says. “There is no telling if the shady network is dead now given that Han’s two front men have not been nabbed in Mozambique. More joint vigilance is needed to destroy the operation at the source and at the end of the line.”
North Korean diplomats have, as early as October 1976, been fingered for engaging in illegal activities ranging from possession of and trade in ivory pieces, trade in diamonds and gold, the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit currencies, pharmaceuticals, and the sale on the black market, of a paraphernalia of drugs, cigarettes, alcohol and other trinkets on the back of protracted and biting international sanctions against the reclusive state for its gross human rights abuses against its own people and flagrant nuclear tests.
These illegal activities, according to a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, have raked in at least US$500m annually for the Pyongyang regime. Other global studies estimate that North Korea’s illegal earnings from the black market are around $1bn annually, and are being channelled towards the country’s nuclear weapons programme, while ordinary North Koreans continue to die of mass starvation.
In February 2014, Botswana, citing systematic human rights violations, severed ties with North Korea with the former’s president Mokgweetsi Masisi (then vice president) calling North Korea an ‘evil nation’ on 23 September 2016, at a United Nations General Assembly forum in Washington, USA.
Botswana has close to 132,000 elephants, more than any of its four neighbouring countries, namely Angola, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, according to a 2022 Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) Elephant Survey.
The rhino population in Botswana has significantly dwindled, with poaching a leading cause of the decimation of the country’s rhinos. Despite dehorning and relocating its diminishing rhino population from the extensive Okavango Delta to undisclosed sanctuaries, Botswana has since 2018, lost 138 rhinos to poachers.
The sharp spike in rhino poaching in Botswana came after the country’s government made a controversial decision to disarm park rangers in early 2018.
In a statement delivered in November 2022 to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) CoP-19 in Panama, the Botswana government instead blamed the surge in poaching to a shift of foreign-sponsored organised poaching organisations from South Africa to Botswana.
“This increase in rhino poaching in Botswana coincided with a decline of rhino poaching in South Africa from 2018 to 2020, suggesting a displacement of the poaching syndicates from South Africa to Botswana,” the statement reads. “The recent decline in rhino poaching in Botswana (2021 and 2022, relative to 2020) coincides with the increase in rhino poaching in Namibia and South Africa, further suggesting displacement of the poaching syndicates across the sub-region.”
According to the Botswana government, as of 13 November 2022 the country has secreted its shrinking rhinos (only 285 white rhinos and 23 black rhinos) in undisclosed locations within the country’s borders.
South Africa has close to 15,000 rhinos. Between January and June 2022 alone, poachers killed 260 rhinos in South Africa for their horns. The country is home to the majority of Africa’s white rhinos, a species whose existence remains under threat of extinction due to poaching.
The major threat posed by foreign state actors including those from North Korea, to southern Africa’s rhino and elephant population remains grim as the bulk of the rhino horns and elephant tusks reportedly continue finding their way to the Far East, where China is being used as the major distribution centre.
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Saleshando bitter over my UDC affiliation-Khama
Former President Lt Gen Ian Khama has said he is disappointed by the remarks directed to him by Botswana Congress Party (BCP) President Dumelang Saleshando, but he will just wait and see how far he wants to go with his remarks before he decides whether and how his response should be.
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