Before the inception of the college, we understand that there were only 10 qualified Batswana accountants, but today the country boasts of over 400 accountants and this is largely due to the efforts of the college. Of course it has not been a smooth ride to get to where the college is. There were days in the past when many were filled with nothing but doubt but over the years that doubt, has been replaced by optimism.The college's management has done very well to collaborate with internationally acclaimed institutions like UK's University of Derby to help fine-tune their curriculum and infuse higher pedagogical standards. There are of course no short corners and easier route when one wants to get quality and highly acclaimed programmes.An emerging economy such as ours needs qualified accountants and these have been in short supply even in developed economies. In the past these accountants had been trained abroad at exorbitant fees and it was unimaginable that one day we would have our own institution churning out internationally recognised accountants. Other local institutions have been doing some preparatory courses in accounting but nothing that trains accountants to chartered accountants at the same level as BAC. Most BAC courses are said to have been made in line with the demands of business and the needs of economy other than being purely academic as the regular Bachelor of Commerce has been found to be. This is a big achievement and we hope that the BAC management will go a step further to ensure that the institution stays on course to meet the industry needs. As Botswana develops we need to be self-sufficient in critical human resources needs such as accounting, auditing and general management and we believe BAC will play a key role in attaining this goal. BAC has recently been transferred from the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning to the Ministry of Education and Skills Development. Ordinarily, the ministry of Education is the natural habitat for this institution, but we hope the ministry will be alive to the critical role that this college plays in the economy. It is important that the ministry ensures that standards are kept at the highest level. The ministry together with BAC management should ensure that more strategic partnerships are sought to give the institution the necessary competitive advantage in the SADC region.
Religious killing in Nigeria
The religious motivated killings in Nigerian town of Jos must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. The international community should put Nigerian authorities under pressure to ensure that all the perpetrators of this wanton violence are brought to book. The military, too, should be investigated to see whether their inactivity aided the Jos massacres.
