The Briton may have become an 'enemy' to the powers that be because of his success in handling Basarwa relocation cases against the state. Reports say he was served with papers from immigration officials declaring him a prohibited alien as he was about to board a plane to the United Kingdom. A newspaper reported that days before he was declared persona non grata, he was interrogated by government officials and barred from visiting the Central Kgalagadi Game Reserve. Allegations are flying thick and fast that the Botswana Centre for Human Rights - Ditshwanelo - is behind the banning of Bennet.
It is an open secret that Ditshwanelo and Survival International (SI), a movement for tribal peoples fighting in the corner of Basarwa do not see eye-to-eye. SI hired Bennet to represent Basarwa in the landmark CKGR case when the two organisations fell out. Even now it seems no love is lost between them. To compound matters, the government regards SI as an apartheid organisation and a busybody. And ours is a vengeful government! It is a spoilt government that always expects to be showered with praise by international organisations. Because it is not everyone who is fooled by the so-called 'Africa's shining example of democracy', Botswana views anybody who derails from the norm with suspicion. Given the chance, as in the Bennet case, Botswana will respond ruthlessly.
