On the electric car

The first time I heard about the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP)’s plans to build an electric car I dismissed it off hand. I wondered, why an electric car, of all things we could possibly spend money on as a nation?

We are yet to produce bicycles. It sounded more like trying to climb the tree from the branches. Would we finally be getting the children off the donkey carts? Why not just build a car with a combustion engine? Or, is it about going green?

Still, I don’t know why precisely the electric car was chosen as a measure of our technological capacities. But then I remembered that it is not really difficult to build a car. Bush mechanics do that every day and they have never been to school. Just see the kind of cars on the roads. In some cases, only rust holds them together. 

Editor's Comment
Micro-procurement maze demands urgent reform

Whilst celebrating milestones in inclusivity, with notably P5 billion awarded to vulnerable groups, the report sounds a 'siren' on a dangerous and growing trend: the ballooning use of micro-procurement. That this method, designed for small-scale, efficient purchases, now accounts for a staggering 25% (P8 billion) of total procurement value is not a sign of agility, but a 'red flag'. The PPRA’s warning is unequivocal and must be...

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