An Incentive Policy marching out of sync

For winning a bronze medal at the Olympic Games, the 4x400m relay team earned two-bedroomed houses, valued well around P700, 000 each.

Almost two years later, Ross Branch finishes second in the equivalent of motorsport's Olympics, the Dakar Rally and gets P100, 000. The relay team received support from the government, through the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) while there is also assistance through the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC).

There was nothing out of pocket as the athletes' welfare was taken care of by the government. For Branch to go to the Dakar Rally, he has to dig deep into his pockets. Luckily, he is under a factory team which takes care of some of the expenses. The Dakar Rally is acknowledged as one of the toughest, if not the toughest, off-road races on the motorsport calendar. It is the undoubted World Cup of motorsport. Branch has elevated the status of local motorsport and by extension, enhanced the country's image on the international arena. However, the rewards he got are not reflective of this, thanks to an archaic Athletes Incentives Policy.

Editor's Comment
BDP primaries leave a lot to be desired

The BDP as a party known to have ample resources has always held its primaries well in time, but this time around that was not the case. The first leg of the primaries was held last weekend, with the final leg being billed for the coming weekend. This time around, the BDP failed to shine in its primary elections. The elections were chaotic; most if not all polling stations didn't open at the specified time of 6am. Loyal BDP members braved the...

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