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Archives:
Wednesday July 02
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Football Football is war
The late Rinus Michels, also known as "the General," coach of the Dutch team that narrowly lost to Germany in the 1974 final, famously said, "Football is war." When the Dutch had their revenge in 1988 and beat Germany to go on to become European...
IAN BURUMA 09 July 2010
BMD for the middle class, maybe, but it is no 'opposition' yet
Middle class? Yes, in the language if the spokespersons of capitalism who prefer the method of 'social stratification' to differentiate the various economic groupings that their preferred mode of production creates, refer to this economic layer...
RAMPHOLO MOLEFHE 09 July 2010
Instability in Botswana's labour movement - an inside view
"Beware of the wedge-driver, the man who creeps from ear to ear, carrying a bag full of wedges, driving them in between you and the next man, between one group and another, a man who goes round creating splits and divisions. Beware of the wedge...
09 July 2010
A security strategy for the 21st Century
As with the politics pursued in the Obama administration's 16 months of office - dialogue, international commitment, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament - the document's strength lies in the position that it takes. The Security Strategy is a...
JAVIER SOLANA 09 July 2010
What is wrong with the civil service: a custom(er's) perspective
For many African countries functionality in the civil service was greater in the first two decades after independence than the decades that followed. The rot in African civil services set in the mid to late 1970s and accelerated during the 1980s as...
TITUS MBUYA 09 July 2010
State-media relations in Botswana
The 1980s can be regarded as Botswana's decade of economic growth. It was then that the country was upgraded from a low-income to a middle-income country. Several independent newspapers emerged, to all intents and purposes as a spin-off of the...
09 July 2010
The unaccountable G-8
So let's make our own account of how the G-8 did. The answer, alas, is a failing grade. The G-8 this year illustrates the difference between photo-ops and serious global governance. Of all of the G-8's promises over the years, the most important was...
*JEFFREY D. SACHS 09 July 2010
My trip to Egypt
A writing friend had posted a link to a site about an international writers' residency in El Gouna on Facebook and, on a whim, I applied thinking I hadn't a chance since writers from all over the world would be applying. To my surprise, a few months...
LAURI KUBUITSILE 09 July 2010
Thaaka! It's Kenneth Koma's "Mene-mene tekel upharsin!"
Koma always maintained that the BDP was held together by Go Ja meaning that they were welded together by corruption and their love of ostentation, and that party's leadership propensity to covert state funds for private ends. Koma maintained that in...
KEINEETSE KEINEETSE 09 July 2010
Our Heritage
This particular post card, one of a series extending back to Independence, has been long out of print but to my astonishment, emerged from obscurity as an item placed on sale on e-Bay - my thanks to the kind friend who made the discovery and...
Sandy Grant 09 July 2010
Reminiscences on "my Malawi holiday"
We only had one heavy downpour when we were in Malawi, at the Dedza Pottery along the Mozambique border, an hour south of Lilongwe-we'd just started out on a walk and could see it coming, so turned back. Malawi is not called the "Warm Heart of...
SHELDON G. WEEKS
Correspondent 09 July 2010
Governments urged to introduce traditional treatment methods
For instance, a recent summit held in Nairobi, Kenya confirmed there is efficacy and substance in the traditional medicines, especially in the treatment of malaria. This is further reducing marathon controversies around introducing naked roots and...
VICTOR MULANGISI
Correspondent 09 July 2010
The blood diamond is making a comeback
At the KPCS meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 21-24, Zimbabwe dominated proceedings, and delegates were given a rude reminder of the growing disillusionment when diamond business magnate Martin Rapaport embarked on a three-day hunger strike to...
09 July 2010
Barclays responds to plant depletion owing to basketry
The plants include mokolwane (barchemia discolour euclea divinorum), which has been declining over the years as commercial basket weaving flourished. Kalahari Conservation Society (KCS) says the areas between Shakawe and Gumare in the Okavango have...
MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer 09 July 2010
Mine recovery uplifts villages
Here, at the confluence of the two villages, which a couple of years ago tussled over the naming of the African Copper holding, lies a copper mine - Mowana mine. I stand here at the gate that leads to the dirty-green heaps of soil and rocks from...
LAWRENCE OOKEDITSE
Correspondence 09 July 2010
Book Review
jurgen Schopf's The Serankure and Music in Tl™kweng, Botswana, is a welcome addition to the literature on the music of Batswana. Botswana Notes and Records (BNR) over the years has had various articles on music in Botswana, most recently in BNR...
SHERIDAN GRISWOLD 09 July 2010
Back Stage
The Toy Story franchise occupies a special niche in the establishment. It is predicated on the ancient fantasy that toys have a life of their own, but only after all the children and adults have gone to sleep. Toy Story 1 (1995) was the first...
SASA MAJUMa 09 July 2010
Faith-based films in viewers' good books
"We had prayer warriors on set every day," says director David Nixon, "people who knew nothing of filmmaking, but who knew how to pray. When I'd yell 'Action', they'd go into action and start praying. They'd pray for the actors. They'd pray for the...
09 July 2010
Tsholofelo carves niche in rare screen-printing
One of them is 25-year-old Thabiso Tsholofelo from Changate village near Nkange, who specialises in screen-printing (a discipline of the arts that is still rare in Botswana) and metal sculpturing. Like many artists, Tsholofelo realised he was gifted...
GASEBALWE SERETSE
Staff Writer 09 July 2010
Demolition of SSKIA terminal cost P500,000
A new state-of-the-art terminal building was unveiled late last month following almost a year of frenetic construction by the Chinese contractor and various sub-contractors. The new terminal is part of a P433-million project that includes...
MELINDA ALVAREZ
Correspondent 09 July 2010
Shortage of artisans hits Phikwe
The situation is made worse by artisans produced by Selebi-Phikwe Technical College (SPTC) who are found wanting partly because the college does not work with Madirelo Training and Testing Centre (MTTC). The Managing Director of S and L Engineers...
CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent 09 July 2010
Watchdog
Instead I'm going to ramble on about a programme that has become a complete addiction. Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.Before I explain why I love it, I feel obliged to say that I can't normally abide Gordon Ramsay. He's everything I despise about...
09 July 2010
BoB survey reveals growing business confidence
Overall confidence in prevailing conditions for the survey period was 55 percent as compared to 47 percent in the previous survey and 40 percent in the same period in 2009. The report says while confidence remains broadly constant at 54 percent, for...
LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent 09 July 2010
Hotels fully booked ahead of Mascom Marathon
After failing to tap from the World Cup tournament, accommodation providers in this town had based all their hopes in the racing showpiece and they were not disappointed. Speaking to BusinessWeek, Bosele Hotel General Manager, Nametsegang Seitshiro,...
CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent 09 July 2010
Morupule B transmission works due for construction
The 400-kilovolt line from the Morupule B Power Station to the Isang sub-station is one of key works in the 600-megawatt station's development. The transmission line is essential for securing Gaborone's future power supplies as its capacity creates...
MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer 09 July 2010
BPOPF tender sparks market excitement
At its August sitting, the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) board will decide which of the four firms to appoint its asset/investment consultant, a key and highly lucrative position in the management of the Fund's P29 billion...
MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer 09 July 2010
Govt eyeing BP, Shell for state oil company?
Both BP and Shell recently announced their intentions to exit the Botswana market, with the former citing a strategic review and the latter a shift to exploration and production as opposed to refinery and marketing. Shell and BP are Botswana's two...
MBONGENI MGUNI
Staff Writer 09 July 2010
Europe's banks, Europe's crisis
How could this happen when all problems had seemingly been resolved during May's EU summit meeting, which created a European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and ensured total funding of close to $1 trillion? If all the resources promised...
* DANIEL GROS 09 July 2010
BNF's Mohammed Khan speaks out
Mmegi: Which religion do you subscribe to? Khan: I am a Muslim Mmegi: Are you married?Khan: Yes, with four children-two boys and two girls. Mmegi: What are your hobbies? Khan: I love playing tennis and also used to play football. But still...
09 July 2010
A tale of three women
A recent academic study found that the gap in wealth between white and black Americans had more than quadrupled between 1984 and 2007. A quarter of all black families, it said, have no assets at all. That is certainly true of Kenya Williams, a...
09 July 2010
Botswana must take its leadership position in the 'clean' diamond campaign
At their last meeting in Tel Aviv last month delegates to the "Kimberley Process" were unable to agree on how to deal with Zimbabwe, where a highly repressive military elite is keeping itself in power by controlling the proceeds of the Marange...
* TISEKE KASAMBALA 09 July 2010
Collaborating with corruption
This "see-no-evil" policy has yielded precious little stability. And it has allowed Kosovo, Albania, and Macedonia to linger on the crumbling edge of the "failed state" abyss. These countries - not to mention their Balkan neighbors, Greece included -...
* FRON NAHZI 09 July 2010
Only the sjambok will bring results
I have nobody but myself to blame for failing to implement a new-year resolution that I made at the beginning of each of the past four years. I have always wanted to own a sjambok that will occupy a special space in my jalopy. I failed to implement...
BAME PIET 09 July 2010
When women journalists meet The Black Stars!
I thought it was more childish until I travelled to Johannesburg for a leadership workshop organised for Women In News. I was not looking forward to it because I did not know what to expect from it. We arrived at the OR Tambo International Airport at...
09 July 2010
Will the 'phafana' survive the ban on homestead beer trade?
The calabash, the container used for many purposes in African settings, including making and serving traditional beer, inspired the architecture of the magnificent Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. This is the stadium where the first African...
09 July 2010
Our Heritage
Perhaps this was not an un-surprising reaction because I have long had a close involvement in craft projects, beginning with the Mochudi Community Centre in the 60s the Odi Weavers in the 70s and 80s and the Phuthadikobo Museum between 1980 and 2008....
SANDY GRANT 09 July 2010
Mogae speaks his mind
Mmegi: How are you enjoying your retirement? Festus Mogae: It is very busy, maybe too busy. I am enjoying it because it is busy-like, but it is just a question of time management. As you know I remain the chairperson of the AIDS Council, which meets...
09 July 2010
Solar-powered plane lands safely after 26-hour flight
The feat is a step toward the makers' aim of circling the globe using the power of the Sun to fuel the plane.The aircraft used super-efficient solar cells and batteries to stay in the air after the Sun's rays had faded.The plane touched down at an...
09 July 2010
Indian woman delivers, abandons baby in plane toilet
Cabin crew of the Turkmenistan Airlines rushed the newborn to a hospital as the plane arrived in the northern Indian city of Amritsar on Wednesday, said Varinder Kumar, city police commissioner. The toilet was taken to the hospital with the baby,...
09 July 2010
Shell opens production at in Nigeria
The Anglo-Dutch company, whose facilities are often attacked by militants in the Niger Delta in the country's south, said in a statement the project will also be able to produce a billion standard cubic feet of gas daily next year. It called that...
09 July 2010
Afghan corruption has doubled since 2007 survey says
Afghans paid nearly $1bn (£658m) in bribes in 2009, with almost a third of those surveyed saying they had had to pay a bribe to obtain a public service. More than half said state corruption was fuelling the Taliban's growth. The average cost...
09 July 2010
Konate remains head
After a meeting with Konate, who had threatened to resign on Tuesday, Ping said the interim president must "stay until the end of the transition." "I have received phonecalls and messages from abroad, notably Europe, telling me it is fundamental...
09 July 2010
Raped daughter, tried to frame son
49-year-old was found guilty of repeatedly raping his daughter, now 21, between 2004 and 2006, while she was living with him in Alexandra, Johannesburg. The daughter reported the assaults to the police in 2008 after a dispute between herself, her...
09 July 2010
Kagame faces three challengers in Rwanda election
Social Democratic Party candidate and Deputy Parliament Speaker Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, the Liberal Party's Prosper Higiro and Alvera Mukabaramba of the Progress and Harmony Party -- the only woman candidate - will challenge Kagame in the...
09 July 2010
A health milestone has been achieved
It is heartening to note that this facility has been provided for people that many of us ordinarily take for granted because they are generally pushed to the margins of our everyday existence. Quite often, out of ignorance and lack of knowledge...
EDITOR 09 July 2010
How many more should die before we act
Amongst the accidents reported are disabling injuries as well as fatalities. If my memory serves me well, the death toll resulting from a poor work environment and systems of work in the construction industry stand at three. Early this year, an...
09 July 2010
Nitty Gritty
Two people at the Nitty Gritty have responded to the call: Walkie has decided to answer to the call of celibacy and will not share her body with any human being, dead or alive. Especially not with the former. Mr Kool has also responded to a call, in...
BAROLONG SEBONI 09 July 2010
BMD: What do you have for artists
This new political child was instigated by some discontented members of Botswana Democratic Party who had issues with the leadership of their former party. One of the reasons for their argument was that they were disturbed by the way the country was...
09 July 2010
Understanding mental illnesses
To many, the mention of the term mental paints a grim picture of an uncontrollable, non-sociable and paranoid individual. Although the above description may be characteristic in some psychological disorders (most notably those with a psychotic...
* BAKANG ABIOT KGAODI 09 July 2010
Whither Botswana
It's certainly the responsibility of all who live in or visit Gaborone from time to time to ensure that the city's environment is kept as attractive as possible. How many of us feel no guilt whatsoever about removing refuse from our gardens,...
DAN MOABI 09 July 2010
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