For the second time in two months, we find ourselves having to focus our attention on the menace that this country faces from poaching.
This week, the national coordinator for anti-poaching was reported in the media saying that two rhinos had been found killed, clearly by poachers, as their horns had been removed, leaving the entire carcass literally untouched.
But before we go any further, we want to join the nation in congratulating President Ian Khama for the award he received this week from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
According to information from Office of the President, President Khama was  honoured by IUCN at World Conservation Congress in South Korea.
“This Office is pleased to inform the public that H.E. the President Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama was yesterday hounored by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ICUN) with a lifetime honorary membership┬á for his life-long commitment to the environment.
“The award was presented at the World Conservation Congress, which is taking place this week in South Korea, on the recommendation of the IUCN Council to individuals who have made exceptional contributions to conservation,” reads a statement from the office of the President.
President Khama’s commitment to conservation is well known the world over.
He is a member of numerous leading conservation organisations across the world.
The recognition he continues to receive will no doubt increase the international profile of the country.
More importantly, such recognition will put Botswana on a higher pedestal as the country braces itself for what promises to be a long, protracted, costly and indeed sophisticated war against a new breed of poachers that are on the rampage.
Botswana has not been spared. Because we have such an accomplished, distinguished well renowned conservationist for a President, it is possible that when soliciting international assistance to fight poaching, Botswana will receive preferential treatment not least because we all are under the leadership of an individual who knows his way around, with sufficient connections and a good resume behind his name on the matter.
In fact, it was President Khama who, just over two months ago when opening a wildlife conservation in Orapa, said his government had picked intelligence that international poachers had sent advance teams to do reconnaissance on what poaching opportunities there were in Botswana.
Information that has been coming out, from the Botswana Defence Force and, indeed, from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, confirms the correctness of the intelligence that President Khama touched upon only in passing more than two months ago.
It seems, like the rest of the region, Botswana has become a target of well organized, well equipped, well financed and well run syndicates of poachers.
 
We call on the government, and President Khama, in particular, to approach the battle with fortitude and determination. When it comes to wildlife conservation we cannot have a leader better and more equipped with knowledge, passion and intricacies of what is involved than President Khama.
All that the President needs to do is to rally the nation behind himself. And what better and more effective way to achieve it than by steering the matter away from party politics and moulding it into a national multi-partisan effort.
We call on Government to avail sufficient resources to all the state organs that are involved in anti-poaching effort.
More importantly, we call on the President as the Commander in Chief to make sure that there is a strong inter-agency cooperation between all the state security organs to enable sufficient links and information sharing between these organs.
 
Information sharing is important if we are to close all the gaps and allow for prompt responses.
Information from elsewhere has shown that poaching syndicates often establish links with some powerful local interests, including business people and senior politicians. Collusion between international poachers and powerful local interests has, in some countries, made it almost impossible to win wars against poaching.
It is thus very important that President Khama uses all the intelligence to which he has access to make sure that all potential holes and/or links between members of Botswana’s establishment and poachers are plugged.
 
Rhinos are especially vulnerable because of the high premium that poachers attach to their horns.
Research shows that the market is providing handsome prices for rhino horns.
To make matters worse, the world over, rhinos are classified as an endangered species facing extinction because of their overall few numbers.
As a country, Botswana has at a great cost gone great miles to preserve rhinos. And as in all other areas of conservation, President Khama has been at the forefront.
Information that Botswana rhinos have already fallen victim to poaching is therefore particularly disheartening.
While the national anti-poaching coordinator talks of two rhinos, it is possible that the real number is much higher.
Which is why, as a nation, we have to double our efforts in confronting this scourge.
Once again the risks and dangers that the country faces as a result of poaching should be enough to unite us as a nation.
This is one area where we cannot afford disunity based on political outlook or political party membership.
