Bye-bye 2010

Editor | Monday December 20, 2010 00:00

It has been a long and hard year.  For us in the media the challenges were immense with the economy still on its feet.

The blood life of every media is advertising and if it does not come by, that spells doom for the industry, which is already struggling.  Another great challenge for the media was the anticipated Media Practitioners Act, which is still hovering over our heads.

The government seems intent on controlling the media and for us in the private media we see it as interference and we will not allow it to happen.

Notwithstanding these challenges, those in the know said the world economy is on the recovery and we hope that in the near future all will be well.

In the sporting field, Botswana achieved tremendously.  For the first time in the history of the Commonwealth, an athlete from Botswana won gold.  We salute Amantle Montsho and all the athletes who won medals at the Commonwealth Games.

On the football front, the Zebras outdid themselves by winning their AFCON 2012 aqualifier games, thus putting them on a higher pedestal.  The Zebras are almost there and it will take a miracle for them not to qualify and make their maiden appearance at Africa's great showpiece.

We congratulate the team and everybody who is involved.  Just recently, Botswana hosted the Metropolitan COSAFA U20 Championships.  This was the first time ever that the competition was held outside of South Africa.

This was another milestone for the country.

On the political front, the Botswana Democratic Party's internal bickering led to the formation of the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD).  The breakaway affected the sitting arrangement in Parliament with the BMD taking over as the leader of opposition by virtue of having more opposition Members of Parliament. There seems to be a strong desire and commitment from the opposition to form a united front as they have been with each other in their different functions.

On the education front, the Botswana Examinations Councils experienced a nightmarish year when teachers downed their tools when it came to invigilating and marking of the examinations.  The nation is waiting with bated breath for the outcome of the results.  Teachers also had issues with the ministry over their working hours and other issues related to their work. As the year comes to a close, we wish Batswana a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.  We hope you all come back invigorated in 2011.