BDF abducted, murdered Namibian fishermen – report
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The Botswana Defence Force (BDF) is now facing fresh accusations of allegedly abducting the Nchindo brothers and their Zambian cousin from the Namibian side and then killing them in Botswana, says a report authored by a Namibian parliamentary committee.
The report which was released this week by Namibia’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, Security, Security, Constitutional and Legal Affairs claims that as part of its continued harassment of Namibian citizens living along the border between the two neighbouring countries, “The BDF would guide their boats across the Chobe with the intention of harassing, arresting and even shooting the fishermen.”
According to the report, “The Nchindo brothers in the Kasika/Impalia areas were found fishing on the Namibian side of the Chobe River and were taken across to Botswana where they were eventually murdered.” It says, “The scenario of arresting Namibians from Namibia and then taking them into Botswana has brought the use of words such as abduction, extra rendition, extraterritorial and extra judiciary into play.”
Martin Nchindo, Tommy Nchindo, Ernest Nchindo and their cousin Sinvula Munyeme were shot dead by the members of the BDF in 2020 following suspicions they were poachers. The report says learners and teachers at one of the schools near one the rivers felt terrified, especially as the BDF helicopters hovered the skies above their schools. “The children at Nakabolelwa Combined School could not access the river for their lessons, as teachers fear that such learners could be shot at,” says the report.
The report says the fear of war is forever lingering on the minds of teachers at Nakabolelwa Combined School as they fear that cross border skirmishes of wars similar to the one of 1981 could erupt. “Therefore, the residents in the Nakabolelwa area did not want the deployment of Namibian Defence Force as that could lead to war between the two armies,” says the report.
It says the BDF crossed the Chobe to the Namibian side of the river at will, but Namibians would not be allowed to do the same adding that in the Ngoma District, there are drier patches in the Chobe River and the BDF uses these patches to cross over into Namibia. It further states that as a an inseparable feature to the Motion on the Security Situation along the Chobe/Linyanti/Kwando River in the Zambezi Region, the Committee had to ascertain for itself as to whether, or not, there were cases of aggression that were perpetrated by the Botswana Defence Force on the Chobe/Linyanti/Kwando riverine people.
“It is in adherence to the aforesaid that attendees to the hearing came up with a plethora of narrations as far as issues involving aggression in general were concerned,” reads the report. The report says the inaugural session in Katima Mulilo clarified that the acts of aggression by the Botswana/Namibian borderline clearly showed that the BDF did not respect the human lives and human rights of Namibians. “Actually, wild animals received fair treatment at the hands of the BDF, when compared to the one given to Namibians as the behaviour of the soldiers was determined by the country’s “shoot to kill policy.”
It says Namibians were not allowed to access their traditional grazing pastures, especially the ever-green grazing pastures that were by the banks of the Chobe/Liyanti/Kwando Rivers. “The residents within the target areas need protection against the aggression of a foreign army. The fishermen who had no choice but to storm the river for fishing suffered harassment at the hands of the BDF day and night,” the report says. It says these fishermen sell their catch to merchants who in turn resell their shoals of fish at the Katima Mulilo Open Market.
“To ensure that that the fishermen sell fish in its fresh state, the practice of fishing at night became a necessity. Many-a-times these innocent Namibian fishermen constitute a team of poachers in the eyes of the BDF and they are normally arrested and taken to Botswana. Many of these fishermen were detained even if they were found on the Namibian side of the river,” the report says.
In its exploration, the Committee said discovered that there are established communal conservancies along the Chobe/Linyanti/Kwando Rivers, indicating Impala, Kabula, Kasika, Kwando, Nankabolelwa Bamunu, Dzoti, Wuparo and Balwera conservancies. These conservancies, depend on trophy hunting, lodge developments, game shooting and sale, live game sales, game for own use and other game utilisation activities including tourism, which continues to be the main source of income for these conservancies.
“For instance, a hippo was killed by a trophy hunter in Impalila conservancy, who asked a community member to load the carcass in the boat. Shortly, the BDF appeared crossing illegally to Namibian side and ordered the boat driver to stop immediately,” the report says. It says the driver tried to explain that he was tasked by the trophy hunter to assist with transport, who later confirmed that indeed it was his carcass.
The Committee found that members of the communities living alongside the rivers do not know at which point they cross over to the Botswana side of the when conducting normal fishing activities or until which point they can allow their animals to graze and which areas are allowed to cut reeds to construct their houses.
The also committee found that the purpose of development of Namibian Defence Force (NDF) in the area of concern is not well-defined or neither understood by the communities. “NDF members are regularly seen around in the villages, but not being seen around patrolling the river line where the communities believe they should be. The purpose of the NDF presence in the area is mainly to curb poaching in the area and not necessarily to patrol the border as expected by the community,” says the report.
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BPS, Mosala Funeral Parlour butt heads over SA national remains
A squabble has broken out between Pule Mosala Funeral Parlour and the Botswana Police Service (BPS) over the remains of a South African national who has been in the Mosala mortuary for more than nineteen months. The deceased was one of 10 suspects who were controversially shot dead during a lengthy shootout with law enforcement authorities in Gaborone’s Phase 2 early last year.
The deceased individual’s family based in Soweto, has encountered difficulties in repatriating the body which has been in the care of Mosala Mortuary Services. Following the incident, it has emerged that all 10 bodies were transported to PFG mortuary in Lobatse for a brief period while the police attempted to locate their next of kin. Â It is reported that the families of the deceased were eventually identified and informed to come and identify their loved ones, including other South African nationals who were part of the criminal group. These families also witnessed the autopsy procedures conducted at Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone.
Except for the family from Soweto, nine of the bodies were claimed and taken by their separate relatives. The Soweto family claims they lack the resources to bring the body back to South Africa and has made it known that they are looking for money. To end the supposed verbal agreement over the body’s storage for repatriation, Mosala Funeral Service has filed a case against the police at the Lobatse High Court.
According to Keakantse Mmotlhana, the company’s Sales and Marketing Manager, 10 people who were killed in Phase 2 by gunfire were all temporarily transferred to one of PFG’s branches in Lobatse by the police while efforts were made to find their next of kin. She expressed outrage at the statement made by the Minister of Defense and Security, recently.
After Assistant Police Commissioner Dipheko Motube called her office to apologize for giving the Minister wrong information during a news conference, she confirmed that they had accepted the apologies. He made it clear that one of the victims was still at Pule Mortuary in Lobatse.
Bushie Mosala, the director and owner of Mosala Funeral Services, confirmed that the body of a South African national has been in his mortuary for the past nineteen months. He expressed his desire for the police to remove the corpse from the mortuary, characterising the situation as a “nightmare.” He has instructed his legal team to file a lawsuit against the police in the Lobatse High Court concerning the body.
Mosala urged the acting Police Commissioner to come forward and apologize to the nation for the situation, asserting that the public has the right to know the truth regarding the body of the South African national, w
C -002Bhich was preserved by the police as evidence.
The South African High Commission in Gaborone had not responded to queries from Weekend Post at the time going of going to press.
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BOSETU frustrated by Gov’t new dispute winning strategy
Botswana Sectors of Teachers Union (BOSETU) has expressed alarm over a troubling trend by the government. Tobokani Rari, Secretary General of the BOSETU, stated that it appears that these days, whenever there is a dispute between workers and the government, the administration is fast to run to the courts to attempt and muffle unions.
“This is quite disturbing development, we have seen it with the Botswana Doctors Union, there was a disagreement over the shift allowance, government rushed to court, they indeed got order that was saying the doctors should go and do the work. We have seen it with the nurses, they rushed to court they got the order, we are now seeing it with the teachers, they rushed to the court and they got what they wanted,” said Rari, who also served as the Secretary General of BOFEPUSU.
Rari raised concerns that the government’s enforcement of teacher’s work, through a court order will result in reduced classroom productivity and morale. Rari added that this situation would negatively impact labour relations and teachers emotional wellbeing due to dissatisfaction in their work places leading to persistently poor academic outcomes.
“You can get an order that forces people to work, but what happens at work, it heightens emotions, it destroys relationships and the morale goes down and productivity does. Courts and judgments don’t solve productivity issues. Productivity only comes when people are satisfied at the workplace, so if you force them to work through a court order then you may not get the maximum out of the working population,” said Rari
MESD vs BOSETU COURT CASE
“As you are aware, the Ministry of Education approached courts and they were demanding three things from the court in this case between BOSETU and the ministry. First, they were demanding that the joint letter that was written by BOSETU and Botswana Teachers Union (BTU) asking members to stop doing course work because there was no agreement be declared unlawfully and BOSETU should write to its members and withdraw that letter within 24hrs. The second thing that they were looking for, was to interdict BOSETU from further issuing any instructions to that effect going forward. Lastly was that court should hold BOSETU to pay the cost of the lawsuit on a punitive scale,” Rari said.
Rari stated that the court decided to rule in favour of the Ministry of Education on all three relieves sought, that the savingram should be declared unlawful, that BOSETU should withdraw the contents savingram within 24hrs.
Court also said BOSETU should not issue any of such instructions going forward up until the case of contempt that BOSETU has taken to court, the contempt of the 2009 judgment has been decided. Court also awarded cost to the ministry on a punitive scale.
“BOSETU is a law abiding citizen and therefore we are bound by any laws and judgments that are there in Botswana and arise on the courts of Botswana hence we have complied with the order. On the 31st after the court case, we wrote to all our members and told them that the contents of that savingram as far as coursework is concerned has been withdrawn,” said Rari.
Rari said what happened in this case is that the judge decided to listen to the urgency without the responding affidavits of the opposing party, BOSETU, and went on to rule the merit of the case, which surprised the union.
“However we have been in discussion with our lawyers because if we leave things like this, we feel like we cannot leave that unchallenged. We have taken a decision to appeal the judgment,” Rari confirmed.
2023 COURSEWORK AND INVIGILATION AGREEMENT
“We would like to make our members aware that the following day after the judgment, we were able to meet the Ministry of Education and we have arrived at a conclusion that we signed an agreement that coursework rates will be increased by 5%. If court had ruled that coursework is the duty of the teachers’ means it wouldn’t have been any agreement after the court case, it tells you that the issue is still open and it is on the table. We have arrived at an agreement that there is going to be an increment on all components of coursework and invigilation,” Rari pointed out.
Rari further explained that Article 2 says union party is to submit detailed proposals on the intensity of the coursework for further engagement. Intensity of coursework means where the coursework payment starts in terms of varying from different subjects. He said the outcome based subject that are taught Maun Senior Secondary School and Moeng college which are agriculture and hotel and tourism is that ministry have agreed and acknowledge that there are some peculiarity in their coursework and  therefore should be paid in line with the peculiarities that are contained in their coursework.
CONGRESS RESOLUTION
Rari pointed out the resolutions taken at the conference where the issue of application of corporal punishment was addressed.  “BOSETU will issue out a memo to their members to advise them that they should not apply corporal punishment, they should leave it to be applied in line with the Education Act.”
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BMC sees red as mass buffaloes disrupt plans to supply schools
The Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) which had struck a deal with the Ministry of Education to supply some schools in the northern part of the country is counting losses as mass migration of buffalos jeopardize the Commission’s plans.Â
Information reaching this publication shows that the beef exporter was recently given the greenlight to supply government schools with beef. According to documents seen by this publication, as a result BMC had scheduled to buy and collect cattle in the Nata-Gweta and Boteti constituencies from 11 to 17 September.
This was after BMC and the Ministry of Education struck a deal for the former to supply government schools with beef. Letters exchanged between Ministry officials state that it has been recommended to the ministry to support BMC by allowing it to supply schools with beef products.
The Ministry indicated that it was aware that some schools have contracts that are currently running with suppliers such as local butcheries.
The Ministry revealed that at the same time BMC has 256 tins of frozen quality meat at its Maun Plant.
The Ministry requested the Director-Regional Operations to appoint an officer to manage the procurement of meat for schools that do not currently have running contracts. The Ministry further stated that Modalities of collection will be arranged between the region and the schools identified.
According to the Ministry, a list of schools including the condition of their cold rooms and their number of deliveries and kilograms per week they buy should be compiled. The Ministry also requested its officials to share the list with headquarters and the acting director-Basic Education, and engage BMC accordingly to procure.
But this plan ran into trouble after it emerged that between 300 to 500 buffalos migrated from the buffalo fence area to Nata, Dukwi and Mosetse areas.
The Department of Veterinary Services sprang into acting by revising movement protocol for cloven-hoofed animals with immediate effect following buffalo sightings in zone 3b which covers Nata/Sowa, zone 3c which is around the Dukwi areas as well as zone 6a, which covers the Mosetse area, which fall under zones, 3b, 3c, 5,6a and 8.
The Department of Veterinary Services indicated that as a result, movement of live cloven-hoofed animals and their products out of zones 3b, 3c, 5, 6a and 8 were prohibited and that movement of live cloven-hoofed animals within and into these zones is only allowed for direct slaughter at licensed slaughter facilities under veterinary movement permit issued through BAITS.
The department also indicated that the movement of fresh products derived from cloven-hoofed animals such as raw milk, skins and fresh meat into these zones is also only allowed under a similar arrangement.
Movement of live cloven-hoofed animals into these zones for rearing and other purposes will not be allowed, and farmers and the general public is requested to continue being vigilant and report any buffalo sightings to the nearest veterinary office, the police or the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, the department said.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Agriculture has stated that following the press release on prohibition of movement of live cloven-hooved animals and their products in and out of Zones 3b, 3c, 5, 6a & 8, the acting Minister of Agriculture Karabo Gare, his counterpart Acting Minister of Environment, Wildlife &Â Tourism Mabuse Pule, acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture Mr. Joshua Moloi, Director of Veterinary Services Dr Kefentse Motshegwa and other government officials visited the areas of Sepako and Dukwi respectively on a mission to consult with communities regarding the invasion of the places by buffalos.
Minister Gare alluded that they have been sent by the President of Botswana, who is equally worried by the current situation. He noted that the affected areas have a total of around 300000 cattle and if the situation goes unchecked, there might be detrimental effects on the economy of this country.
He encouraged the communities to help government going forward by reporting any spotted buffalos in their areas, emphasizing that buffalos are dangerous and can kill people and that care should be exercised at all times.
The Director of Veterinary Services mentioned that they closed the above mentioned zones to allow for testing of buffalos & cattle for foot & mouth disease. The wildlife department’s Director Mr. Moremi Batshabang assured farmers and the community that they will eliminate small clusters of buffalos found within communities and translocate larger clusters to ensure their safety.