Of late there has been a lot of debate and commentary about Botswana’s right to get more out of its diamonds in its deal with De Beers in the sale of diamonds. The debate and commentary is not much different from what happened during the constitutional review process. In the constitutional review process we had no knowledge of the characteristics of the sieve, the commissioners, that was being used to select what goes into the recommendations.
In the diamond sales commentary we do not know what a better deal entails, and what inherent risks, if any, are in the proposed deal. Based on what I have seen in press reports the commissioners in the constitutional review process formulated recommendations that are at odds with some views that had general support of the people of Botswana. Some of our private radio stations and civil society groups are still engaging in the constitutional review process. The main proponents of this continuation of process are acting from a position of saying there was no adequate education of participants in the constitutional review process.
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