Our Government is at it again, poking its nose in matters that are completely none of our business. Our government is always quick to remind other countries that we are a sovereign state and do not need any outsiders to tell us how to run our country. Surprisingly though, it is the same government that finds no shame in monitoring and rebuking other equally sovereign States. This time our government is barking at the Namibian government. The Namibian government has, after thorough consultations and considerations, granted an American hunter a license to hunt, kill and auction off one rhino in an effort to raise funds towards rhino conservation.
Our government has come out with guns blazing over this decision by the Namibians. Mind you, the rhino belongs to the Namibians and will be hunted and killed in Namibia, with no involvement whatsoever of the Botswana government. I just don’t understand why our government likes embarrassing us with stupid comments, over matters that do not benefit us as a nation but can only attract hostility between Botswana and other countries. The author of the press statement appears to have not bothered to acquaint himself with the matter at hand before spewing out bile at the Namibian government. I reproduce here the statement from our government; “The Government of the Republic of Botswana notes with alarm the CNN documentary portraying an American hunter, Mr. Corey Knowlton, shooting one of the world’s most endangered species, a black rhino, in Namibia.
We would have hoped that the amount of money he paid for the hunt could have been used instead to relocate the rhino to a country like ours, where we would have welcomed such an initiative and put the rhino in an area it would not be a threat to other rhinos and contribute to our tourism and education efforts. We therefore appeal for such consideration in future. As for Mr. Knowlton, whose actions and unconvincing attempts to justify them, is not welcome in Botswana”.
Just who writes all these crappy statements in the name of our country? For starters, the rhino that is being killed is up for auction and if the Botswana government gets goose bumps at the death of a rhino (yet they condone the killing of citizens) they should have gone and participated in the auction so they can buy the rhino and bring it here. It is appalling to also note that the press statement ends with a threat directed to Corey Knowlton who has entered into a legal agreement with the Namibian government. Why would Botswana threaten not to allow Knowlton to enter our country on the basis he has legally killed a rhino in Namibia? It would appear the person who wrote that press statement confuses our country for his house where he is at liberty to reserve the right to entry. For your information, which our government officials seem to have ignored, Corey Knowlton paid $350,000 for the permit to hunt a black rhino in Namibia.
All proceeds from the permit will be donated to the Namibian government and dedicated to conservation and anti-poaching efforts. Namibia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism facilitated the whole expedition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The rhino earmarked to be hunted is near the end of its life, as it is very old. Knowlton ensured to be given the license to kill an old rhino that is no longer beneficial to the gene pool. In fact, the rhino is said to be a detriment to the population of rhinos in Namibia because it is capable of harming or killing other younger black rhinos.
The hunt is consistent with the conservation strategy of Namibia, a country whose rhino population is steadily increasing and it boggles the mind as to why our government can claim to know better when Namibia was the first African country to incorporate protection of the environment into its constitution, and its conservation program has contributed to it having the largest free-roaming black rhino population in the world. The Namibian government has come out to assure its citizens that the hunt and killing of this black rhino is not taken lightly and that only old geriatric bulls, which are marginalized in the population and do not contribute to reproduction, are trophy hunted. To add salt to injury, these silly statements from our government come in just a few days after our soldiers killed three Namibians suspected to be poachers. There are already tensions between Botswana and Namibia as our soldiers continue to kill, without attempts to apprehend, suspected poachers from neighboring countries.
How can the Namibians stay calm when our minister of wildlife Tshekedi Khama is on record as having ordered our soldiers to shoot-to-kill poachers at first sight? We have so many problems besieging our country and the killing of one rhino in Namibia is not in the list of our problems. Our government should learn to keep shut when other countries go about their business. Go phapha ke gwa eng kante?
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