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22 Sep 2009 12:41
Edition 477 18 - 25 September, 2009
Alleged desert killer goes to court . . . This 33-yearold man (centre) from Xhabacha cattle post in the remote north-west is accused of murdering three people near the cattle post. This week, Mungunda Mushongu appeared before Maun chief magistrate Mmopa Baakile for mention. He is charged with three counts of murder and one of robbery. Mushongu is said to have murdered Mozulu Jackson, Kathiko Jackson and Kebonyekgosi Kayupura on April 28 at or near Chukumuchu .It is alleged he robbed Kathiko and Mozulu Jackson of two Nokia cellphones and P1 000 and that before robbing them, he used violence to obtain their property. State prosecutor Mompoloki Gaboiphiwe told the court that investigations are on-going and Mushongu should be further remanded in custody. When asked to comment by the court, Mushongu said he had nothing to say. He appears again on September 28. (Picture: Lets Open)
Nata's Grand Old Lady gets help
Following the article in last week's The Ngami Times about an elderly Nata woman who lives virtually in the open and does not have a house to sleep in with her four grandchildren, there has been a big response from concerned business communities in Maun and Nata.
Thamalalo Reetsanye, in her mid-70s, and her grandchildren need shelter and a toilet.
Caldec Investments in Maun has offered 1 000 blocks to help in building the house and arrangements are being made to transport the material to Nata.
In Nata, China Jiangxi Corporation, a company which is constructing the Nata/Sepako road has offered to help with extra materials needed for building the structure, especially in the form of sand and gravel.
More help is needed and we call on those who can assist to contact The Ngami Times (Bright Kholi) on 686 4807 or 71820939 or in Nata contact Pedro Martinez on 75014128.
WORKS OF THE DEVIL'
MOTOPI - The village headman here has heard in his own kgotla details of horrifying witchcraft allegations made against him.
Residents of the village say Dimbo Selabe has been at the centre of acts of witchcraft and other unusual things experienced at the Kgotla and at the village cemetery. The activities have been branded as works of the devil.
Residents were this week summoned to the village Kgotla and they attended in their droves.
They heard and commented upon unusual things which they could neither narrate nor understand.
The tribal administration staff claimed to be the hardest hit because things had happened under their very noses and all fingers pointed to the village headman of records, Dimbo Selabe. as the mastermind behind these works of the devil.
A resident Kenosi Makgetho told of how they had always felt lazy or at times reluctant whenever they were to attend Kgotla meetings because they always lost concentration while there or ended up dozing most of the time, and as a result preferred to stay home or some spent time at shebeens.
For this reason they have a feeling their Kgotla has been cursed.
Even cases which could have been attended to are pending for no good reason, they claimed.
Kabalele Baane told of how people have been dying mysteriously in the village, about 85km from Maun in the Boteti sub-district.
Some body parts were found to be missing but no action ever taken. He said even rape cases are never heard.
The police here do all that they can, but it all seems useless and a waste of time because things just disappear, he told the kgotla.
Makalamabedi Subordinate Tribal Authority, Diane Sepako, told how just recently he received a telephone call from an official at the Kgotla informing him of an unusual sight at headman Selabe's office.
When he and his subordinates got there, they discovered what looked like mud in the headman's office. They confronted him about it and he was quick to admit responsibility, saying the reason why he bathed and brought muti in the office was because he had not been well for some time.
This puzzled Sepako as he said he had never experienced rituals being performed in a government office, wondering at the same time why Selabe could not have used his own house, his fields or any other place.
I made him aware of this and told him it was very wrong for him to have done that, more especially that the office, let alone the Kgotla, is not his personal property but belonged to the public.
I told him to appoint someone from his family to come and clean the office as we honestly could not order the cleaner to do so. He (Selabe) declined but instead chose to do the sweeping and mopping up himself.
We thought all was finalised and we went back to Makalamabedi, only to be called back again when we received another call that as staff at the Kgotla reported for work recently, they were saw with disbelief wreath cuttings, all facing westerly and planted in and around the Kgotla premises.
I asked Selabe and other headmen (about it) and all of them denied knowledge, even though the majority felt Selabe was at it again.
I personally felt the matter was above me and I telephoned Gonkgang Mankgatau, Senior Subordinate Tribal Authority in Rakops, and he ordered that a kgotla meeting be called so as to get your views.
The Ngami Times learnt at the meeting that the headmen, accompanied by the police, followed tracks from the Kgotla to the village cemetery where they discovered that the wreath cuttings were taken from the grave of Pule Sebetwane, the son of headman Letota Sebetwane, who was chopped to death in July by his girlfriend.
The deceased's' father said all along it never came to his mind that someone was behind his children's deaths. They had, he said, been dying one after the other.
It pained my family a lot when my son was chopped to death even though I did not suspect foul play (at the time).
This incident is now an eye-opener to us all even though we cannot fight back as we believe God has answers to all this. I just cannot sleep at night when I think of these things happening to my family and I wonder if my son is peacefully resting.
I want this matter to be taken forward and for justice to take its toll, he said in a shaky voice.
Speaking in his defence, Selabe admitted to the first incident (the mud in the office) and that he was innocent of the second (the wreath leaves).
There is really nothing I can say. I told everybody who was there during the first incident my side of story and I admitted it. I was told to clean up the mess in full view of the people who were present then and I abided because I knew I was to blame. The reason why I refused to call in my wife or children to come and clean on my behalf was because I did not want to involve them in things that they did not know from the onset.
I am equally surprised about the wreath cuttings you see here and do not know why everyone of you think I am responsible.
Why not call in traditional doctors or prophets so that they could caste their spells? The truth must prevail and if it means me being jailed, I won't hesitate to serve provided there is enough proof linking me to it. I still maintain my innocence, he said amid laughter from residents.
Selabe's nephew, Mosinyi Kenewendo, told of disappointment and embarrassment over the accusations levelled against his uncle. He said his uncle never told them, as a family, and that they just heard news on the village grapevine.
He added: I am stuck for words and do not know what to say because this man is my father'.
He could have called a meeting before the news spread so as to clear his name, but I think now it is a bit too late because things have gone from bad to worse.
Sepako told residents to expect another meeting in which Gonkgang Mankgatau, from Rakops, will be present. He said in the meantime residents should not hold grudges but work harmoniously with Selabe until the matter has been resolved and judgment passed by those in higher authority.
He said he was disappointed by the turn of events because government officials might in the future not want to work in the village .
Contractors who fail projects are warned
By Basadi Morokotso
The Minister of Local Government, Ambrose Masalila, has sent a strong warning to local contractors whom he said should show seriousness and commitment whenever they have been given work to carry out if they want to stay in business.
He said one thing that makes a good contractor is his ability to prove himself to be trustworthy, reliable and honest, a thing which he said still lacks behind in most of them. The North West District Council; (NWDC) has in the past also accused the contractors of issuing false performance bonds so that they could be awarded tenders, only to fail to meet the terms of contracts and delaying the provision of service delivery.
Speaking at the official opening of the l's completed projects in Maun at the weekend; Masalila said that contractors have also developed a tendency of getting their mobilisation money before the commencement of work- and then disappear into thin air. For this reason he said the ministry was left with no option but to take up the matter with the High Level Consultation Committee under BOCCIM for possible assistance.
He gave an example RADs hostels in Mantshwabisi in the Kweneng District which took close to seven years to complete.
It is so amazing because after we lose hope and terminate contracts, the same contractors take us to court even when they know they should carry the blame.
We are not going to tolerate this behavior anymore because they are a waste of time and stand in the way of productive people who would have completed their works and saved us time.
Masalila said also that the completion of projects in Maun - comprising the state of the art council chamber, the landfill, the Andrew Wellio Memorial School, Kareng Clinic, Matsaudi Health Post and Disaneng Primary School, which were constructed at a total cost of P48, 331 105.54 marks a significant step in the realisation of the objectives of the Ngamiland District Development Plan 6 which contributes to the overall objectives of 2016.
He said the NWDC found it compelling to build the two schools after discovering that Boseja and Gxhabara schools, which share the same locality were overpopulated by 299 and 40 students, respectively. Andrew Wellio alone currently has seven classrooms and seven teacher's houses and was constructed at a total cost of P6 599 997.80 with a total enrolment of 596 pupils and 19 teachers.
Disaneng on the other hand has a student population of 310 and eight teachers and has the same number of classes and teacher's houses with the total construction cost standing at P9 070 855.90.
He said the council chamber was built after there was an increase in electoral constituencies which in turn increased the number of councillors.
There are a total of 71 councillor's seats, 112 seats for the public, the press gallery and other associated facilities.
The minister also expressed worry about the slow pace of construction works at the new bus rank - I always run out of words when I have to comment on this one and I suspect something somewhere is very wrong.
I want thorough inspections to be carried out there because otherwise it's like we are heading nowhere while members of the public suffer at the end. These are just deliberate mistakes that we cannot handle anymore. I would suggest now that these people should be followed every step of the way, he said.
Former Council Secretary Paulos Nkoni said regardless of the many difficulties encountered while the projects were being carried out, the NWDC managed to beat all odds and came up with positive results which can be witnessed by everyone.
He said the achievement as a district was a result of a good team spirit that was bestowed amongst himself, his staff, the District Commissioner's office as well as other stakeholders who worked tirelessly to see to it that all was in place even though time did not favour them at times as well as the many challenges that they came across.
He said since the projects were carried out before the global recession, they benefited the North West as a district and called on those who will be in charge of their everyday use to take extra care because there will never be money to carry out renovations.
He said also that the facilities are meant to improve the livelihoods of Batswana and therefore they should take full responsibility of seeing to it that they are well kept.
Meanwhile, projects which are expected to be completed soon include the Thito and Matshwane Primary Schools, Maun fire station, Matshwane, Disaneng and Maun West clinics, and the bus rank as well as the upgrading of 33km of Maun internal roads to bitumen standards of which 13km are already complete.
Vote Jakes or you will regret it'
By Basadi Morokotso
SEHITHWA The electorate in Sehithwa and surrounding areas have been urged to vote for the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) parliamentary candidate Jacob Nkate and not waste their votes on candidates from opposition parties because they will never bring them anything of value.
Addressing a rally here over the weekend, Vice President Mompati Merafhe said democrats and the ruling party cannot afford to lose someone of Nkate's calibre because he has a good track record.
Merafhe hailed Nkate for his loyalty and bravery by heading the Ministry of Education and Skill Development which not every minister would have tolerated, looking at the past and recent controversies that it is faced with, he said.
But because he has vowed to serve his people regardless of the many hardships, setbacks and all the criticism which he has and continues to come across while in the line of duty, he has never given up, lost hope or abandoned the ministry. Instead he continues to fight on so that your children and Batswana as a whole could benefit, he said.
Merafhe also said that should people vote for the opposition, they would have squandered the five years which could have worked for them if they had voted Nkate.
He said Nkate has a good reputation of advocating for his people, giving as an immediate example the re-opening of Maun abattoir which is currently undergoing major renovations and expected to start operating in mid-2010.
He gave us a hard time both at parliament and at cabinet soon after this area was hit by Foot and Mouth Disease. He and Frank Ramsden (Assistant minister of Works and Transport) stood there for all of you right from the onset and convinced government to come out with other alternatives of assisting you to sustain your lives, otherwise if they could have kept silent and ignored your grievances, no one was going to notice.
Thato Kwerepe, a member of the BDP central committee who lost to Nkate during primary elections, said although Sehitwa residents voted for him in large numbers then, they should now vote for Nkate to parliament because he deserves it. He said he did not hold a grudge against for Nkate like many people think, adding that even in a competition, one is destined to win while the other loses/
We still lack the spirit of oneness in this district. The odd things that have been going on are not commendable at all. I personally feel we should stop them because they are not bearing any fruit.
There is no way we can run a district or our country if we are not united, he added.
EDITORIAL
The need to develop
The North West District Council's new chamber was formally opened at the weekend with all the due pomp and glory.
It is appropriate that Maun, for too long the Cinderella of development in Botswana, should now have such an excellent facility which will we are sure be utilised to the full in the coming years.
Maun, indeed all of Ngamiland, continues to need development in a similar vein so that we can grow to our full potential.
Right now, the North West looks at what is taking place in the new industrial axis of Palapye-Serowe, where massive multi-billion pula investments are being made and being encouraged by the government.
There's the extension to the power station, the development of natural gas deposits, industrial expansion at Palapye, the plans for a new hotel in Serowe, a pipe-making factory, the technical university, new roads and such like.
No one should begrudge that area its successes but fair's fair Maun is growing apace and needs to be nurtured by the State and parastatals such as the Botswana Development Corporation.
Instead, what do we get? Foreign construction companies that don't finish off their contracts satisfactorily or long delays in completion of other projects, and a lack of infrastructure (such as a dependable water supply in the Maun area).
Apart from the Council Chamber, we believe we are close to completion with our new fire station, the soon-to-be re-opened
abattoir, and government buildings at the Rural Administration Centre (RAC) in Maun.
One hopes that the parliamentary and council nominees for the October 16 general elections will take all this into consideration when they make their election promises to the electorate.
This area is hungry for development and the wishes of the people for more development should be heeded.
Election fever is in the air.
Politicians are right now making promises as to how they will act on behalf of their constituents if they are elected to parliament and councilson October 16.
Of course, as most people are aware, pre-election promises don't always become fact during the four-year term of office and it is for that reason that for decades people have been making fun of anything political, particularly in the run-up to elections.
Here's a sample of some classic remarks -
* If you can't convince them, confuse them - Harry S Truman (33rd president of the United States
* The President has kept all of the promises he intended to keep.
* I'm not a member of any organised political party, I'm a Democrat! Comedian Will Rogers.
* If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one? Abraham Lincoln (US President)
* Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least.
* The problem with political jokes is they get elected.
* Democracy is being allowed to vote for the candidate you dislike least - Robert Byrne, American author.
* Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge where there is no river. Nikita Krushchev, Russian leader
* He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career. George Bernard Shaw.
Remember the old warning: Don't swim in the sea! Jaws is here . . .
Well, now Shuffle hears this may be the case with your daily shower as well.
You may not be getting you as clean as you think when you take a show as an American study has found many showerheads are dirty and may be covering you in a daily dose of bacteria that could make you sick.
An analysis of 50 showerheads found that about 30% had high levels of something called Mycobacterium avium a group of bacteria that can cause lung infections when inhaled or swallowed. Researchers found the levels were 100 times higher than those found in typical household water.
If you are getting a face full of water when you first turn your shower on, that means you are probably getting a particularly high load of Mycobacterium avium , which may not be too healthy, said researcher Norman Pace.
These germs are linked to pulmonary disease, causing symptoms such as a persistent drug cough, breathlessness and fatigue, and most often infects people with compromised immune system but can occasionally infect healthy people.
**
Hurrah! Shuffle is due to come into money he didn't even know he had. Yep, the Nigerian scam has been taken to new heights with an offer to give Shuffle US$500 000!
I kid you not . . . read this for yourself:
I am happy to introduce myself and my office to you. I am the leader and the Chairperson of the above mentioned name (EFCC), and my office deal with cases of banking fraud and the internet scams.
Following to the resolution of the Nigerian Government over the people who have been scammed by some fraudulent workers and fake people of the country, the new Government under the President of Chief of the armed forces of the federal Republic of Nigeria, the Senate committee and the National House of Assembly have passed a motion to compensate those victims that was scammed, and during the routine check from the office of the External Affair, name has come up as one of the people who is to benefit from the compensation payment as the office of the presidency have approved and instructed for the payment of the compensation of $500,000 to you.
A quick check on the Internet showed this con to be just that a scam which has been swallowed hook, line and sinker by thousands of people.
If any reader receives a similar e-mail, please send it back with an impolite couple of words that may or may not lead to more money being offered.
**
Here's something to make you laugh: A giant ship's engine failed. The owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was young.
He carried a large bag of tools with him and immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom. Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do.
After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed!
A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for10 000 US dollars.
What?! the owners exclaimed. He hardly did anything!
So they wrote the old man a note saying Please send us an itemised bill.
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer...... ......... ........ $ 2.00
Knowing where to tap.......... ......... ...... $ 9 998.00
Khama promises that democracy will be strengthened and nourished
KANYE - Botswana Democratic Party leader and Botswana president Ian Khama has promised to strengthen the promotion of democracy in the country.
He told an election rally here he would even teach other African communities about the importance of adherence to democratic principles. Khama said although he has been advised to pursue quiet diplomacy when dealing with some regional issues, there is no way he could keep quiet when another leader in the region uses his position to harass his political opponents through the police and soldiers. If in Botswana we want peace and stability, we want others in the continent to also enjoy it, he is quoted by the Botswana Press association 9BOPA) as saying.
Khama said there is no way that the ruling BDP party can use the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to rig the elections just because it wants to stay in power for long as it is happening in other countries. We do not want life presidents; here in Botswana we want a president to serve 10 years. He was also perturbed by reports that the election date favoured the ruling party, adding that those who spread the reports were unfair to him because he announced during his inaugural speech in April last year and later in November that the elections would be held in October this year, thus giving local political parties an opportunity to prepare themselves for the elections.
Khama said his administration would not condone corruption, adding that Batswana need a pat on the back since recent surveys has identified Botswana as the least corrupt country in Africa. He also said his government would continue with the promotion of human rights adding that even though the press often attacks him to the point of dubbing him as a dictator, it deserves to write about him.
On developments, Khama promised that the government would continue to implement development infrastructures such as roads, electricity, tertiary institutions and healthy facilities with funds accrued from diamonds sales.
Three for presidency
Three of the country's recognised five political partiers have nominated Presidential candidates for the October 16 general elections.
Incumbent president Ian Khama has been nominated by the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) with Gibson Saleshando's name being put forward by the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) and Otsweletse Moupo is the Botswana National Front's (BNF) candidate.
The Botswana Alliance Movement (BAM) has aligned itself to the BCP and therefore did not make a nomination.
Two other parties, MELS and the Botswana Peoples' Party could not nominate candidates as their support base is too small.
A monkey picks out a meal on a rubbish bin. Gontse Gareebine-Bass cannot believe the state of rubbish bins in our national parks.
How to beat sorry state of parks
By Gontse Gareebine-Bass
( Former Maun journalist now living in Norway )
I recently found myself yet again a frustrated tourist in my homeland, Botswana.
And it is all to blame on unbelievable occurrences that continue to take place within our national parks and game reserves.
Whether it's an expedition off-the-beaten-track of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Moremi Game Reserve, Khutse or Mabuasehube Transfontier Park, to mention but a few of our so-called pristine environments, someone always goes out of their way to ruin my holiday.
The simple truth is there are always Wildlife staff that do not give a hoot about their jobs, and tourists that I would love to shoot with my homemade catapult that was originally meant for wild baboons that steal your food the minute you look the other way. There are some annoying tourists who disturb the peace and make those who are environmentally friendly, and have perhaps traveled half-way across the globe, to undergo unnecessary stress when all one really wanted was to get away from it all.
When one needs to get away from air pollution, car horns, loud music, loud people and other unsociable conditions, you would think what better place is there than running off to the African wilderness?
Think again because there are boorish groups who come into our parks and national reserves year after year and break rules and regulations that are put in place to protect our heritage to make sure that people from all walks of life enjoy our nature.
There are too many examples of chumps breaking the protective speed limit of 50km/h within our parks by doing a crazy 60km/h or more, churning up the roads, racing across the pans at night, feeding the animals, leaving behind half-burning fires in campsites, treating these pristine environments as playgrounds for macho behavior.
Mind you, they do all this under the very noses of the idle and inefficient park officers.
Racing 4x4 on the pans isn't all. Arriving in convoys (like trekkers) of eight vehicles or more, overloading campsites meant for fewer vehicles, leaving heaps of rubbish in the parks and making a noise, these hooligans are treating our conservation-areas like the picnic-grounds and Sunday afternoon braai spots of Johannesburg.
Just what is our policy on people who disobey our rules? Let them go scot-free?
What is even more bewildering is the unresponsive Wildlife officer, who when you report anything to them, just stares at you, shrugs his shoulders, and says that there is nothing he can do about it. Go report it to headquarters, is the answer.
How about park employees getting empowered to do something about it then instead of everything being centralised at Tourism headquarters that are hundreds of kilometres away?
Staff member need the power to act when the bosses are out of reach and they are always, if not most of the time, out of reach attending endless meetings and conferences.
As a country, Botswana has the upperhand in the tourism sector in Africa.
With some of the most sought-after wildlife, bird species and the best tourism attractions in the world, perhaps we need ecologically switched-on people to gain entry into our parks seeing that we get substantial revenues through tourism every year.
This can be done through camping and park entry fees, from buying food and gas, to clothing, accommodation, and other necessities tourists need, to mention but a few. What is the department of Tourism/government doing about this as one too many park staff members seem less enthusiastic about their work?
If you go to any of our parks today you will find yourself embarrassed by the appalling state of ablution blocks. That is one of the many examples where people do not show enough interest in their work.
The toilets are simply filthy. Where are the cleaners who are obviously not doing their job? Where is the maintenance department responsible for fixing broken taps and pipes when the need arises? Where are the people responsible for emptying bursting rubbish bins before the monkeys and baboons have a party?
Even if ecologically switched-on tourists come and explore Botswana, and actually enjoy their stay here, they will have nothing good to say about our hygiene, and it is a frustration as anywhere in the world where a state is judged by the state of its public toilets.
What about future funds from the European Union (EU) not getting wasted on building fancy new gates, like they did at Moremi recently, as there was nothing wrong with the old ones apart from lack of regular maintenance and, instead, train future Wildlife staff in maintaining the parks and keeping the ablution blocks spick and span?
Back to the boorish tourist, who most of the time get away with their uncultured, shameful behaviour in our parks. Perhaps fining them could put an end to this.
What about liability-deposits made prior to park bookings? Perhaps limiting group sizes can avoid, ahead of time, a bunch of noisemakers in our parks. Most people visit mainly to hear lions roar, jackals howling and hyenas laughing.
What about availability of empowered staff members next to camp sites so that frustrated tourists can report immediately they start hearing loud and annoying fake hyena laughs in the wilderness?
To the boorish loud mouths - if I were a gemsbok I would turn my long, straight, sharp horns on your alcohol supply for starters! That will show you to respect wildlife environments.
Government has no plan to abolish community trusts
The government says it has no intention to disband community trusts even though it has decided to abolish the intermediary Village Trust Committees (VTCs).
According to ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism's acting public relations officer Olerile Orapeleng the community trusts are there to stay and the decision to abolish VCTs was because they had reached finalisation and had also added a layer of bureaucracy, creating another centre of power on top of trust boards.
We are saying the trusts with the right frameworks and the communities they are serving are at a stage where the boards can run the trusts without another layer of the institution in between, he said.
Orapeleng told The Ngami Times that VTCs were initially established in multi-village community based organisations during the infancy of the Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programme to link different villages to the trust boards.
Specifically VCTs were to monitor village technical and financial performance, co-ordinate area development plans, plan, implement, and monitor multi village projects and also oversee natural resources management at village level, he said.
He however noted that over the years the concept of a trust and trust boards had taken root and that the intermediary trust boards have to a larger extent transformed themselves to alternative boards at village trusts.
He said his has not only added a layer of bureaucracy but created another centre of power where some are already squabbling with the board for control of the trust and its assets.
He said the ministry never had intentions to create rival structures but to smooth the implementation of CBNRM and with these developments, it is considered that it is time to wrap up village trusts.
The role that has been played by VTCs will be fully assumed by the main Trusts. Asked about the concerns that some community trusts regarding the misuse of trust funds and not necessarily village trusts, he said over the years VTC operations duplicated the main trust activities and moved away from the supportive role they were meant to do. He said over time the resources that the trust board availed to the VTCs to facilitate their development objectives were increasingly used to cover operational expenses of the VCTs.
With this scenario, it means that operating expenses of each trust are directly proportional to the number of villages covered by a trust. For instance, if a trust covers 5 villages, it would mean that it would support 6 (5VTCs) Boards in the form of sitting allowances and related costs. In many instances the number of meetings held and special meeting called are outrageous and the amounts paid per each sitting invariably high.
He said other new developments will be to ensure technical people employed by the boards such as managers and accountants are left to do their jobs without much interference of the boards. VTCs are also to handover and register all the trust assets in the name of the main trust.
BDP's Motswaledi's hopes are dashed
LOBATSE - The hopes of Gomolemo Motswaledi secretary general of the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) to have his suspension from the party lifted and be allowed to stand as a parliamentary candidate for Gaborone Central were on Friday quashed as he lost his High Court application against President Ian Khama who is also president of the BDP.
Khama suspended Motswaledi from the party last month.
Some party elders tried to arbitrate but their efforts failed as Motswaledi took the matter to the High Court in which he wanted the court to set aside the decision by the president to suspend his membership, wanted the respondents to be interdicted from taking any steps to give effect to the decision to suspend him and also from organising and holding primary elections for Gaborone Central, and also not to approve anyone except him.
The three judges who heard the case - Chief Justice Julian Nganunu, Judge Isaac Lesetedi and Judge Ian Kirby - jointly agreed that the Botswana Constitution gives the sitting President total immunity against both civil and criminal suits.
The judgment said when immunity is granted to a sitting President by the prohibition of the launching of civil suits and criminal prosecutions, there are consequences that follow. The clear and obvious consequence is that suits that have been prohibited for the term of his office are deferred, and some litigants will suffer because it may be too late to sue after the retirement of the particular President. Motswaledi's lawyers have since indicated that they are going to appeal the outcome of the case.
Aviation authority denies employment irregularities
The Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) has refuted allegations by some employees that it pays lower salaries, employees are subjected to poor working conditions and that it intends to retrench some employees seconded to it from the old Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).
Replying to an enquiry from The Ngami Times, acting CEO Sekgele Kolo dismissed the statements as untrue saying instead that CAAB salaries are more competitive than those of the former DCA, and all the seconded employees are paid the secondment allowance over and above their government salaries.
A source at Maun Airport complained that CAAB is paying lower salaries as compared to the DCA. He also complained that there is a shortage of manpower which meant employees were only able to do their secondary objective rather than their primary objective.
Another officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, reiterated that a communiqué from CAAB circulated to all the employees did not state how employees will benefit from the new authority.
We are now suspicious we will not enjoy the working conditions and remunerations we were used at DCA, she said.
On the question of working conditions, Kolo could not deny or confirm the situation saying he should have been provided with examples. He however said it is their intention to continuously improve the working conditions of their staff.
He explained that it was never the intention of the government and the CAAB consultants to copy the organisational structure of the former DCA and therefore some positions which were available in the former DCA might not necessarily be required within the CAAB.
There is no way we can retrench staff in the formative stages of this authority. Staff who cannot be recruited by the authority will remain government employees, said.
Recruitment to fill CAAB positions is ongoing and seconded employees have been given first priority.
CAAB has taken over assets and operations of the former DCA. The organisation also regulates air transport and certification of aircraft, licences of pilots, provision of air navigation and offers other air traffic services.
Zebras gear up for COSAFA tournament
Botswana, which has showed a marked improvement in international competition over the last years, is using COSAFA tournaments as the basis of their preparation and progress.
It took almost a decade of competition before the Zebras made a breakthrough, but the side reached the semifinals of the COSAFA Castle Cup in 2006 and repeated the feat the following year.
Now the Zebras want to do the same when the event takes place in neighbouring Zimbabwe from October 17 to November 11.
The hype for the tournament has been growing in neighbouring countries in recent weeks with squads being named.
Two of the country's main grounds, Rufaro Stadium in Harare and Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo. will play host to the biggest soccer showpiece Zimbabwe has seen.
Fourteen countries Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe will be participating,
Botswana has of late dominated over their Southern African counterparts, and will be looking forward to making a break -through and play in the finals of the tournament.
From the list, Angola, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have won the trophy in the past, all of them three times, since the competition started in 1997.
The tournament will be bankrolled by the Zimbabwe government which chipped in with a whooping US$1-million (about P8-million) with the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority weighing in with US$100 300 (about P1-million) and COSAFA also contributing a substantial amount.
National team coach Stanley Tshosane has assembled a strong squad.
After having put in place a friendly against China, Tshosane said he is looking forward to keep the players that he had worked with lately. We want to maintain the squad which was too have played against Kenya. We have retained all the players back in camp except for Lemponye Tshireletso and Raphael Ntwane who have been replaced by Tsotso Ngele and Dampe. The two are out through injuries, but they will be available for selection if they are back to full fitness, said Tshosane.
A to Z Independence tournament kicks off
The 2009 A to Z Hardware Store sponsored Independence soccer tournament kicked off in Maun over the weekend.
The tournament is being sponsored to the tune of P20 000 for fives years, starting in 2004.
A total number of 18 teams from the regional first division and the 2 nd division are battling it out for a place in the finals to be played on Independence Day, September 30.
All the 14 teams in the Nhabe first division and 4 teams - Brothers of Peace, Maun Heroes, Gaegolelwe and Boseja Chiefs - from the 2 nd division were in action for the P4 500 first prize money.
Kgosi Tawana Moremi kicked the first ball to start off the series at the MTC Grounds on Saturday, where Maun Terrors trounced Sankoyo Bush Bucks 4-0. CTO failed to show up for their match against Brothers of Peace, and they forfeited the points to BOP.
Gunners of Khwai, who had an outstanding show in the last season failed to click, as they were hammered 3-0 by Delta Winds while Cubs were knocked out by regional league new boys Maun Heroes 3-0.
Moeti United moved through to the next round on soft points after Maun United also failed to honour their fixture. Both CTO and Maun United struggled last season, and it is left to wonder how they will manage in the coming season.
Asked why they failed to honour the games, they told Times Sports that there was no clear communication between them and the organising committee apparently after a change of time and venues.
Fuji Rollers booked a place after beating North West United 5-4 on penalties and there was drama on Sunday when Maun Tigers beat Makgabisanaga 4-2. Tigers proved too good as they went through to the next round.
In another dramatic game, BMC were knocked out 10-9 on penalties by 2 nd division side Gaegolelwe.
Botswana success at badminton
Botswana beat Namibia by 21 games to 8 in an international friendly series played in Gaborone at the weekend. In the under-15 matches, Botswana won all 11 games while in the seniors the home team was 10-1 victors. In the veterans, Namibia beat Botswana by 7 games to 1.
Nhabe region league to start next month
Nhabe regional football league is expected to start on the second week of October. This was confirmed by region secretary Thari D Mooketsi.
The league is expected to have been completed by the time of FIFA World Cup in June next year.
Having played last season without a sponsor, the region is not yet certain whether they will find a sponsor before the scheduled kick off. Last season was described as the worst in the region as teams struggled financially, and some clubs failed to honour their games.
Mooketsi said they would not want a repeat what happened last season - we are doing the best we can. The league committee and the regional league committee are trying to find a sponsor before the kick off of the league.
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