Former president, Sir Ketumile Masire narrated the mistreatment he got from the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) yesterday before the parliamentary select committee investigating the state parastatal. He was particularly scathing against Clive Marshal, a Briton who was until recently a general manager for procurement at BMC. Masire said having developed a feedlot he met Marshal who encouraged him and said it was a good idea. "After Marshal's encouragement I moved like a possessed man. When I said I was ready, he said I was not ready. He said they did not know me as a feedlotter. My correspondences with BMC were building up," said Masire.
He said he became a feedlotter by accident and it took him a year before the BMC gave him the cattle to feed after a battle. He said BMC gave him cattle to feed from a surplus from more favoured feedlotters. That was when he realised that there is a monopoly. He explained this monopoly to mean a few selected white farmers "according to the wisdom of Marshal". After the monopoly was broken, he said that his cattle took position three out of seven in the line.
