Indepth

Ten years later, the guns are still blazing

It still rankles with some people that the Botswana Congress Party ever came into being but 10 years after fact, the party’s secretary general, Taolo Lucas, has no regret about what happened. He says that it was just a matter of time before the Botswana National Front split up any way. “Given the instability and disorder that was endemic to the BNF, that split was going to happen at any time. The...

Khama takes aim at high rollers

For a very good reason, President Ian Khama would prefer that Batswana were less showy with their material possessions. “Every citizen must (especially the political leadership) strive to maintain our culture of modesty and avoid extravagance at all costs,” Khama said in his inauguration speech on April 1. For their own reasons, some Batswana prefer to be extravagant. At one level, the problem...

Ya’ll gonna learn Chinese”

Beginning August next year, the University of Botswana will produce more Mandarin speakers like Nene Dintho. This is Dintho’s story. When he is in the company of Chinese people, Dintho (whom some would remember as “Nene T” from a Radio Botswana jazz programme) converses in Mandarin effortlessly. Dintho says that for someone like him who is from Maun, this foreign language is not much of a challenge...

BIFM debacle- very smart or very stupid?

MacLean Letshwiti looks into the distance and frowns: “When I took over as chairman, BIFM was a loss making operation. No one knew anything about BIHL (Botswana Insurance Holding Limited.) I personally made it what it is today. And this is how they thank me.” The tall and nattily turned out businessman is actually talking about his passion for turning loss making businesses around - but he is under...

A Freedom fighter on the run

For most people, holding a one on one meeting with Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is not only risky but also pointless. The 84-year-old who has led Zimbabwe for the last 28 years is not only stubborn but also notoriously wicked. Famously, negotiating with Mugabe simply never yields results. South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki has been shuttling between Pretoria and Harare for the last three and half...

A women’s best friend?

To what extent will President Festus Mogae be remembered for pursuing a radical drive towards gender equality? When this question is put to his senior aides, they mention the unprecedented number of women who rose to senior positions in the civil service, as well as legislative efforts to amend laws that were heavily biased against women. It is pointed out that as of last year, female representation...

Botswana’s sunny side shines in London

It was a sight many Batswana have longed to see: I am right in the middle of London, a blonde middle aged woman tottering on high heels flashes me a smile upon learning that I am from Botswana and says “Domela ra.” My visit to London has been full of such moments. On my first morning here, I was roused from my sleep by a female voice singing “Ke Khutsanyana ke setse matlotleng.” I looked around,...

Will the real Sam Asmal please stand up!

When the presiding judge finally pronounces his verdict on the Lobtrans alleged fraud case, it will be interesting to see which Sam Asmal steps down from the dock. There is Sam Asmal the workaholic, a true believer who lived for his company and its employees. Those close to him say there were times during Sam Asmal’s career when friends and relatives were concerned about the long hours he was putting...

Mogae - No easy walk to citizen empowerment

It is a tale replete with all sorts of ironies and begins with the famous friendship of two powerful men. In a hard-hitting address to the Botswana Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Manpower in September 1997, Debswana’s Managing Director, Louis Nchindo, castigated the government for doing little to promote citizen empowerment. “Economic development may produce a good result in terms of growth...

Health for Everyone

All the time that he was toting up figures for a diamond mining giant as well as international accounting and audit firms, Kabelo Ebineng knew that his real calling was elsewhere. “I have been trained more as a businessman than an accountant,” he says. The opportunity to become a businessman came in 1990 when he joined Associated Fund Administrators Botswana which was formed in the same year....

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