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Farmers bay for BMC blood

The BMC purchases cattle in Ngamiland at P31/kg
The BMC purchases cattle in Ngamiland at P31/kg

MAUN: Against a backdrop of crippling late payments, farmers have been calling for punitive measures against the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC).

The state-owned abattoir had lately outdone itself with most payments for the cattle that were sold in April/May only paid for in November.

Prominent farmer and former chairman of North West Integrated Farmers Association (NWIFA), Simon Bojosi has suggested that should the BMC continue with late payments, interest and other surcharges must be levied on the parastatal. He argued that parastatals, and indeed other government departments should see the livestock sector for what it is – a business. “And business sells goods and services so that they can continue to be in business. Now if you fail to pay for my goods, you’re effectively putting me out of business,” he reasoned.

Editor's Comment
Depression is real; let's take care of our mental health

It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...

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