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Monday March 01
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Wednesday March 31
Two percent VAT increase a sucker-punch
He later said, "Finally, I propose to increase the Value Added Tax rate from 10 to 12 percent, effective April 1, 2010 and to raise the threshold for VAT registration from P250 000 to P500 000." This was a hot smack across the voters' faces. As if...
RUSSO LUMA 05 March 2010
Masire-De Beers: the civil coup of 1987
Our people are interested in answers to two simple questions; how does democracy obtain in a situation where the ruling party is financed by the government? and why the President should not declare the BDP an unlawful society? The class differences...
LEDIRETSE MOLAKE 05 March 2010
Of a callous cabinet and a lame duck parliament
It started when then Vice President Ian Khama was appointed Minister of Presidential Affairs and Public Administration and Coordinator of Government Projects. But the man who wielded such immense power never saw fit, or rarely ever did, to attend...
05 March 2010
Can Masire be prosecuted?
"Corrupt politicians make the other 10 percent look bad". It has become common to associate politicians with corruption to the extent that those engaged in the trade are often found guilty by profession. This week the opposition Botswana Congress...
TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Thou shall not insult the president
[When] people said 'This fellow has nothing to say except sing for Kenyatta,' I said I did not have ideas of my own. Who was I to have my own ideas? I was in Kenyatta's shoes and therefore I had to sing whatever Kenyatta wanted. If I had sung...
GREG KELEBONYE
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Who will succeed Ian Khama as president?
It is an open secret that Vice President Mompati Merafhe will not take over from Khama after 10 years. There is a school of thought that Merafhe will only hold the fort until 2014. Initially it was felt that Merafhe would only serve for a...
LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent 05 March 2010
The Hermit Of Mogoditshane
The Moshupa born 65 year old has lived in the shack since 1984, he thinks. His has been a hermit's existence. Reclusive, solitude existence. To many he is just a man with no family and whose origin is not known. "I have lived here, I think...
Greg Kelebonye
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Ngamiland Jumbos Afraid Of Chillies
To tackle the problem, the government of Botswana has launched an initiative aimed at combating this menacing problem of human/elephant conflict called the Elephant Chilli-pepper Project that helps farmers combat elephants without killing...
Khayalethu Mpofu
Correspondent 05 March 2010
Eight Hours On The Beat
Mogoditshane Police Station has one of the vast, most dangerous, most crime prone jurisdictions in the country.The area stretches from Mogoditshane to Gabane in the west, to Kopong, Metsimotlhabe, Gakuto and Matseta in the north - an area whose...
05 March 2010
How 'free and fair' are 'regular' elections in Botswana?
USAID, in recent years more keen on collective regional projects rather than strictly national undertakings, also takes an interest in checking on the health of democracy in the regions it assists. Some of those are: - *Regular free and fair...
RAMPHOLO MOLEFHE 05 March 2010
Bailout, suicide, all out of one bag
Even among the underdeveloped countries such as Botswana, the law has learnt to adapt to the inadequacies and excesses of the actors in the political and economic arena as they pursue their class interests. It would be folly therefore, to view the...
RAMPHOLO MOLEFE 05 March 2010
Heritage
The photo is included in Rob Burrett's recently published book, Plumer's Men' being a history of the Rhodesia Frontier Force expedition led by Lieutenant Colonel H.C.O. Plumer, which worked its way southwards until it successfully relieved Mafikeng....
Sandy Grant 05 March 2010
Police still investigating Nchindo death
Police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Christopher Mbulawa said their investigations are still continuing. He however could not give a time frame for the conclusion of the case. Mbulawa said investigating the death of a person is not an easy...
ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Concern about global warming
Fifty-seven percent of Americans polled at the end of 2009 and early 2010 believe climate change is happening compared with a figure of 71 percent in October 2008. The report, "Climate Change in the American Mind" published jointly by Yale...
05 March 2010
Pakistan flag flies over former Taliban stronghold
The army says it has flushed the militants out of the tribal region of Bajaur, where it has been fighting since August 2008.The Taliban nerve centre was in an area called Damadola, in the shadow of snow-capped peaks. The Pakistani flag now flies...
05 March 2010
Do working mum make healthy children?
The study of 4,500 Australian pre-schoolers found those whose mothers worked some of the week were less likely to eat junk food, watch TV and over the course of the two-year research period were less likely to become overweight.The authors suggested...
05 March 2010
Could burning coal underground take Clean Coal Ltd in too deep?
The idea is this. Forget about mining coal, and instead burn entire coal seams in situ underground, then tap the gases that the fires give off to put in gas turbines and generate electricity. Unknown to most residents, the company has already...
05 March 2010
AG silent on dockets of extra-judicial killings
For the past two years, there has been a huge public outcry over a spate of killings of suspects at the hands of law enforcement officers such as the Botswana Police, Botswana Defence Force and Directorate on Intelligence and Security. Since April 1,...
ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Fourteen turn down WUC job offers
Wednesday that WUC has an establishment of 475 positions of which 368 had been offered to the staff members from the Department of Water Affairs and local authorities. "Of these 348 have accepted the positions, 14 declined, one is deceased and five...
BAME PIET
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Merafhe fails Francistown test
Instead, insiders including the party regional committee feel that the visit could have deepened divisions in the region. Merafhe is a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) elder by virtue of his position in the ruling party and government. His recent...
RYDER GABATHUSE
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Government has outlawed fun - Ntuane
Speaking in Parliament this week, Ntuane asked what could possibly be wrong with people braaing meat at liquor outlets: "What harm does a braai cause?," he queried. The fiery legislator said the government should allow nightclubs to open all night...
BAME PIET
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Govt to regulate hours of PSV drivers
The deputy permanent secretary in the ministry, Ntabeni Malikongwa, says the law is outdated and that it is in the interests of the public to bring it to up to date. He was addressing the Francistown City Council (FCC) this week as part of the...
PATRICIA MAGANU
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
SADC statement on Energy Investment Conference
Organised by Ambassadors of SADC Member States to Germany in collaboration with the SADC Secretariat and the Southern African Initiative of German Business over the last eighteen months, the Conference is also a follow up to the visit to the SADC...
05 March 2010
Masisi wants action on illegal immigrants
He said that they enter the country as visitors and end up engaging in illegal trade of the products they would not have declared at the border. He said immigration officers and police seem not to be bothered by this development as they see these...
BAME PIET
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Education Fair a major first step - Venson-Moitoi
Speaking at the official opening of the Botswana Tertiary Education Fair 2010, which she described as a major first step, the minister said yesterday that this is not only about the lack of capacity within the system that absorbs only a fraction of...
CHANDAPIWA BAPUTAKI
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Court refuses to drop rape charges against BDP councillor
Councillor James Kgalajwe is facing a rape charge following allegations that he forced himself on a maid at his home at the Selepa suburb in Francistown Kgalemang, who is representing Kgalajwe, requested that the charge be lifted as the alleged...
GALE NGAKANE
Correspondent 05 March 2010
Tempers fly over rat droppings and abattoir closure
At the extra-ordinary meeting called to discuss the matter, council staff were excoriated for deciding to close the abattoir without first informing councillors, as the political leadership of the town. Btv News quoted council staff as saying the...
CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent 05 March 2010
Billowing hospital smoke causes misery for residents
Thirteen months after the Ministry of Environment's dispatched officers to inspect the stack with a view to identifying possible risks associated with it and to advise the hospital on their finding, neither the hospital nor the health ministry has...
MARANYANE NGWANAAMOTHO
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Sebetela denies TNMC favours expatriates
Sebetlela was answering questions at the Francistown City Council (FCC) full council meeting where the councillors posed this question as one of the concerns raised by Francistown residents. Sebetlela told the council that the mine has more local...
PATRICIA MAGANU
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Month of Youth Against AIDS: what does it mean for Phikwe?
Recent figures from the national prevalence survey revealed that 26.5 percent of adults in Selebi-Phikwe were living with HIV, compared to a national rate of 17.6 percent. Half of the men and women aged between 31 to 49 years here are infected. The...
CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent 05 March 2010
DRTS states conditions for Public transport operators
The spokesperson for the Department of Road Transport and Safety (DRTS) Amos Motshegwe says operators who have been plying short routes have to first take the vehicles concerned for a roadworthiness test before they can apply for the variation...
ISAIAH MOREWAGAE
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
Trouble follows former inmate
Now a sickly man who hops from one family member to another, only to be booted out unceremoniously, he blames the government for his current woes. Chilengwa is now staying with family member number three in Masunga after his grandmother said she...
JOYCE GREY
Correspondent 05 March 2010
The Middle East's hair trigger
A volley of incendiary remarks between Israel and both Syria and Hezbollah has fuelled anxieties about the possibility of war on Israel's northern border. The level of sensitivity is such that the latest tension was initiated by the Syrians, who...
Shlomo ben-ami 05 March 2010
Bomb threats, Nchindo and the Kalafatis effect
As Robert Dallek said: "Once the public loses confidence in a president's leadership at a time of war, once they don't trust him anymore, once his credibility is sharply diminished, how does he get it back?". On Wednesday morning Batswana got news...
05 March 2010
Sycophancy as Khama and Kgafela's stars rise
Wikipedia describes a sycophant as a servile self-seeker who attempts to win a favour by flattering an influential person. As mentioned before, the culture of sycophancy among Batswana and other Africans is a very old one. We have heard of Malope a...
GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer 05 March 2010
About De Beers and funding ruling party
It has been reported that De Beers has been sponsoring the BDP during elections. Profits from De Beers are expected to enhance social, economic and political development as well as to enhance the spiritual growth of individuals, communities and that...
MAIKGANTSHO RAMONTSHO 05 March 2010
Crime-infested Somerset East raises concern
These are the words of 32-year-old Tshekologo Bundu of Somerset East location in the Francistown East constituency as she relates to Mmegi, her several encounters with criminals while staying in this crime-infested area. For the past nine years that...
ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent 05 March 2010
Bomb scare: Was it a hoax?
Only someone from the lunatic fringe could dare do such a thing in our country. Who would want to harm innocent people at a parking lot? Why was this device left near Office of the President at a time when a Cabinet meeting was in progress? We could...
05 March 2010
Obama in chains
America's governance crisis is the worst in modern history. Moreover, it is likely to worsen in the years ahead. The difficulties that President Barack Obama is having in passing his basic programme, whether in health care, climate change, or...
Jeffery D sachs 05 March 2010
Escaping the fossil fuel trap
Worst of all, they carry large and unsustainable costs in terms of carbon emissions. Indeed, their contribution to rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere is beginning to overshadow the other problems. But use of fossil fuels, and hence higher CO2...
* MICHAEL SPENCE 05 March 2010
Nitty Gritty
Welcome back from last week! I am still trapped in this huge presidential palace, waiting for his most excellent DJ the president to come out so I can interview him. He is in the inner chambers of the palace and I am in the outer chambers by the...
Barolong Seboni 05 March 2010
Whither Botswana?
Last week I wrote, among other things, about how ironic it was that years after the enactment of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime Act; and after parliament unanimously adopted a historic motion introduced by a member of the Botswana...
Dan Moabi 05 March 2010
Selefu 05 March 2010
05 March 2010
BBC's Ethiopia weapons report denied
Abadi Zemo, a senior member of Ethiopia's ruling coalition, described the allegations as nonsensical. The charity Christian Aid said its "investigations do not correspond to the BBC's version of events". The BBC report said millions of dollars in...
05 March 2010
Nigeria ruling party wants Muslim leader for 2011 poll
PDP leaders have agreed that candidates must alternate between the two faiths. Jonathan, a Christian from the Niger Delta, is in charge as Umaru Yar'Adua, a Muslim, recovers from ill-health. The 58-year-old president returned from a hospital in...
05 March 2010
Brown says too early to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe
After talks with South African President Jacob Zuma, Brown said Zimbabwe must show its commitment to free and fair elections in the future. President Zuma, on a state visit to the UK, has suggested sanctions should be eased to help Zimbabwe "move...
05 March 2010
Brazil rebuffs US pressure for Iran sanctions
Celso Amorim told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Brazil wanted to see further negotiations on the issue before it would support sanctions. Clinton said that sanctions had to be passed first in order to persuade Iran to "negotiate in good...
05 March 2010
China slows rise in military spending
Li Zhaoxing said that, as a proportion of GDP, China still spends less than other countries, such as the US. Washington has repeatedly urged China to be more open about its rapidly rising military spending. Speaking at a news conference, Li claimed...
05 March 2010
Fallujah doctors report rise in birth defects
The city witnessed fierce fighting in 2004 as US forces carried out a major offensive against insurgents. Now, the level of heart defects among newborn babies is said to be 13 times higher than in Europe. The US military says it is not aware of any...
05 March 2010
Ivory Coast close on deal to appoint Hiddink
But Ivory Coach football association (FIF) president Jacques Anouma told BBC Sport: "Guus is one of the people we have contacted about becoming coach. "Probably in the middle of next week something will be concluded." The Ivorians are looking for a...
05 March 2010
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