CITES' dark underbelly surfaces in Geneva

Kitso Mokaila. PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO
Kitso Mokaila. PIC: MORERI SEJAKGOMO

A dark picture of greed, corruption and betrayal is emerging behind the scenes, amidst the high tension at the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting underway in Geneva, Switzerland.

By press time yesterday, Botswana and neighbours, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa were staring defeat in the face, in their proposal for future sales of their substantial ivory stocks.

Another proposal, for Zambia’s elephants to join those from Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa on Appendix II where trade is theoretically possible, was also looking impossible.

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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