Bigger vision or nightmare

Hopeful investors during a field tour of the area that would later become Boseto Mine
Hopeful investors during a field tour of the area that would later become Boseto Mine

When the Australian mining company came to the three villages in the heart of Ngamiland, in the north west location of Botswana, it seemed at first like some kind of salvation from the heavens.

For years, residents of Botlhatlogo, Sehithwa and Toteng, were among the poorest in Botswana; in 2014, according to the government-run Statistics Botswana, found that 46.2% of the district’s residents lived in abject poverty.

But the 2010 advent of a first ever copper mine in their midst raised hopes that perhaps things would turn out for the better. But that hope has all but fizzled out.

Editor's Comment
Gov't must empower DCEC urgently

As the new Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) government takes charge, it must act decisively to equip the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) with the tools, laws, and resources needed to combat graft. The time for half-measures is over. DCEC Director-General, Botlhale Makgekgenene’s, recent address to the Public Accounts Committee paints a stark picture. Over five years, leadership instability, chronic underfunding and weak...

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