Archaeologists and modern day witch doctors

Every society has fears, real and imagined. In traditional African society one such fear was a threat from a witch doctor. For example, if your cattle strayed into the farm of a witch doctor you would hasten to pay generous compensation before he made you 'see a miracle'.

If, however, his cattle strayed onto your farm you would be expected to suffer in silence as witch doctors were thought to possess powers, including control of where lighting would strike next.  During last week's international conference of archaeologists here in Gaborone I discovered that scribes can be modern day witch doctors, at least if the altercation between Sandy Grant and some university archaeologists is anything to go by. 

At the centre of the row was the fact that Sandy Grant was attending an archaeology conference without paying the registration fee.  I would have thought these would not be required from a scribe as he could be covering the proceedings.  However, the archaeologists claimed, he was also selling his books in an area reserved for entrepreneurs who had incurred stall and conference fees.

Editor's Comment
Calls to officialise sign language overdue

At home, Botswana is still lagging in many aspects despite some steps taken to fix the situation. Those living with disabilities are often ignored and shut out from basic rights, access to services, or social participation. A motion tabled in Parliament by Kgatleng Central Member of Parliament, Mpho Morolong, calling for the introduction and adoption of sign language as an official language in Botswana is indeed a welcome development.The deaf...

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