Shashe

We are told by Barwa that Tribal Territories (TTs) are essential for us to live in peace in Botswana. Furthermore Barwa claim that the TTs do not disrupt lives of tribal people in any way whatsoever, because a tribal person from GaNgwaketse can apply for land allocation in any TT in Botswana, and be allocated that land. If indeed a Mongwato applying for land in Kweneng TT is not discriminated against on grounds of being a "foreigner", why then should the two TTs (Kweneng and GaMmangwato) exist? Why should national resources be wasted in administrating these TTs? Why were the names of TTs disguised as "Districts", e.g. Southern District, Central District, Kgatleng District?

In the current public spat between former president Ian Khama and current President Mokgweetsi Masisi, the nation seems to have lost its head. Most analysts, commentators and all sorts of "experts" agree on one thing - Ian Khama is to blame, because he resorted to tribalism to fight a political "war". Nobody bothers to think; not even newspaper columnists with a PhD who continuously peddle this trash. Everybody conveniently overlooks the fact that Ian Khama, just like the Republic he once ruled, is an embodiment of tribalism itself. Ian Khama does not have to invoke tribalism. As a "paramount chief" of one of the largest Tribal Territories (TT) he wears tribalism everywhere he goes. At Botswana's attainment of "independence" in 1966, the colonialists passed onto us a country wrapped in a giant tribal gift wrap. Unfortunately, instead of rejecting the tribal present, WE ALLOWED THE SO-CALLED FOUNDING FATHERS to accept the tribal gift on our be...

Democracy has to be built on the fundamental principle that NO VOTER VOTES MORE THAN ONCE. Failure to uphold that principle renders any election a farce. But just how hard does our government try to prevent multiple votes being cast by one voter during national elections? Does government employ all measures at its disposal to stop this malaise from distorting our election results? A cursory look at some current operations under government systems suggests that even without resorting to the electronic voting machine (EVM) government can prevent a voter from VOTING MORE THAN ONCE. Yesterday I mistakenly tried to pay road license for my vehicle at the Department of Road Services and Safety (DRTS). I had assumed that my vehicle road license expires at end of December, like so many other licenses do. However, on entering my vehicle's number into the computer, the licensing cashier told me that my current license is still valid, and that THEIR SYSTEMS HAVE NO PROVISION FOR ACCEPTING MO...

Credit for the title's source is duly given to Mrs. Margaret Thatcher on her departure to give her resignation to the Queen, as reported by the BBC. I have just read an article titled "The myth of the Masisi-Khama feud" in the latest Sunday Standard newspaper. The author of the article is not revealed. My views that the Khama-Masisi feud is NOT real have not changed. I still believe it is a ruse to hoard news space by the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP, aka Domi). That said, I agree completely with the author of the Sunday Standard article. But the author made one big mistake: in his/her zeal to show how former president Ian Khama broke the law, and how President Mokgweetsi Masisi is merely applying the law, the author ignores a vital piece of information reported elsewhere in the same paper. Just two pages prior, in a report titled "Francistown land scam syndicate slapped with heavy penalties", Joseph Balise quotes High Court Judge Lot Moroka (in p...

I've just watched the BBC documentary about killings of women and children accused of being Boko Haram by the Cameroon army. I find it hard to believe that the authorities did not recognise the culprits as their own soldiers, prior to the BBC carrying out their investigations. The clarity of the video makes nonsense of any denials of culpability of the Cameroon army. So the question now is: Can the world expect any real investigation and punishment of the culprits from the same authorities who failed even to acknowledge the identity of the criminal soldiers on the video? I don't think so. In my view the only authority that can objectively put on trial those responsible for the horrendous crimes is the International Criminal Court (ICC). Those uniformed criminals wearing the Cameroon army uniform should be sent to the ICC to answer for their crimes. African countries should not have the bar set any lower than European or Asian countries when it comes to war crimes, crimes agai...

If it is true that government has reneged on the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during next year's general elections, and if it is true that there are no contractual obligations that will "force" government to re-adopt EVM use once the hurdle of voter registration has been passed, then all that amounts to very welcome news indeed. The alternative would have been, (to use P.W. Botha's words) "too ghastly to contemplate! Most of us have heard how an IBM computer by name of Big Blue defeated the World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov in a chess game. When he walked into that room, Gary Kasparov knew, but did not care that Big Blue was "hackable". He didn't care whether or not Big Blue was connected to any other computer remotely. He knew that whatever entity Big Blue might have been connected to, or networked with, that entity simply became part of Big Blue anyway. So as far as Gary Kasparov was concerned, he was facing a "standalone...

I am a dirt poor and semi-knowledgeable man. How I wish I could buy all Zechariah Sitchins books! How I wish I could read at least one of his books! How I wish I could visit Egypt and learn something about the antiquities, and share with you my readers! If  you wish to help me financially, please send one US dollar ($1) or any amount you can afford to: First National Bank of Botswana limited. Account number: 62779987357 Branch Code: 281867 Swift Code:FIRNBWGX I will post here to inform of amount accumulated in the account at this same time every week. Thank You and God bless!