A state of emergency is inseparable with restrictions in freedom of movement and worse of all curfews may be applied. Former President Ketumile Masire almost declared one in 1987 during the Bontleng riots that sought the return of little Malebogo. The situation that the southern part of the country is facing demands that the president declares a state of emergency. Southerners are not used to any such inconveniences when it comes to movement of livestock. In fact this is the first time that the Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) has restricted movement and the slaughter of cloven hoofed animals since 1948. That year there was an outbreak of rinderpest.
The colonial government through the DVS of the time ordered all able bodied men to take part in erecting a thorn bush fence (legora) that literally separated Gaborone Block commercial farms from the rest of the tribal areas. The best action by the State President is to declare a state of emergency to help prevent what I would term a catastrophe. We need a complete lockdown in this part of the country in order to prevent the spread of any Foot and Mouth Disease if there be any. The current scare originates from the discovery of a buffalo in the environs of Kanye. The origins of this buffalo still remains a mystery. There are two theories regarding where the buffalo might have come from. The first one points to game farms in neighbouring South Africa while the other points to the wildlife parks in the north of the country.
