Siele warns officers against corruption

26 July, 2008 in Botswana

source: BOPA
25 July, 2008

MAHALAPYE – The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Mr Peter Siele has warned Department of Immigration officers against corruption.

Addressing the officers in Mahalapye recently, the minister said it has come to the attention of every Motswana and foreigners that corruption is rampant in their offices.

He said corruption, especially in the form of accepting bribes, is committed by some officers for selfish reasons, adding that they make the whole nation suffer.

The minister noted that the country is ranked high in Africa regarding zero tolerance to corruption, but that the ranking is now going down because of some incidents.

He warned that the country is now heading for disaster and cautioned the officers that they will be dealt with accordingly.

Mr Siele said he is aware that there are some officers in the department who are conniving with consultants to force customers to pay for services that they [continue reading]

Dept reviews mining legislation

26 July, 2008 in Botswana, Business, Mining

source: BOPA
25 July, 2008

LOBATSE – The Department of Mines is currently reviewing the Mines and Minerals Act to ensure that mining license holders make adequate financial provision to fulfill the environmental obligation of rehabilitating the mines at the end of the mine life.

Senior Engineer Mr Hossiah Chimbombi said in an interview that the department has realized that some companies fail to rehabilitate quarries because of insufficient funds at the end of the mining operation.

Currently there are five quarries, which have recently closed and failed to rehabilitate citing lack of funds as the reason for not fulfilling the obligation.

“The department continues to pursue this matter with those companies to comply and they have already started to rehabilitate,” he said.

Mr Chimbombi noted that as part of the monitoring process the department through the [continue reading]

Zimbabwe: Government of National Unity Deal Soon

26 July, 2008 in Africa

source: Zimbabwe Independent
Thursday, 24 July 2008 19:27

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing arrangement on Monday during intensive meetings at the Rainbow Towers Hotel ahead of marathon inter-party talks that started in Pretoria yesterday.

A government of national unity deal is resultantly expected soon after the breakthrough private meetings.

Informed sources said the current constitution would soon be amended to facilitate the envisaged agreement. They said Amendment No. 19 would be a transitional mechanism between the old and the envisaged new constitution expected down the line. The amendment is largely designed to accommodate Tsvangirai and other MDC officials in the new government.

It is said the number of appointed senators would be increased by six from five to 11 to create space for appointees who would include Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara as leaders of the two MDC factions.

Currently Mugabe can only appoint five senators and this room is not enough to accommodate losing Zanu PF candidates and unelected MDC officials.

No one can be a minister without being in parliament. Out of the six, two appointees would be from each of the three negotiating parties. The Upper House would thus have 99 senators in the end. Zanu PF lost control of parliament to [continue reading]

Zimbabwe: Leadership issue remains major sticking point at talks

26 July, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: SW Radio Africa
By Tererai Karimakwenda
July 25, 2008

Talks between Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party and the 2 MDC formations entered a second day on Friday at a secret location in South Africa, with local media reports saying that a deal could be reached before the 2 week deadline spelled out in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). At the same time the reports acknowledged that the issue of who will lead a Government of National Unity (GNU) remains a sticking point at the talks.

On Friday the state controlled Herald newspaper reported that a ZANU-PF politburo meeting earlier this week decided that the party would not accept a power-sharing deal that does not recognise Robert Mugabe’s re-election, or seeks to reverse his land reform programme. Mugabe’s insistence on leading any government of unity is equally matched by the MDC’s demand that party President Morgan Tsvangirai be the leader since he won the initial presidential poll on March 29.

The leadership issue is nothing new but it could easily endanger the talks. A media blackout imposed on the [continue reading]

Only six of original seventeen are active

26 July, 2008 in Botswana

source: BOPA
25 July, 2008

PALAPYE – Majority of farmers who were allocated plots at Dikabeya under the NAMPAADD project have not started their projects.

Speaking during Assistant Minister of Agriculture Mr Shaw Kgathis visit the Dikabeya NAMPAADD project farmers committee members said only six farmers out of 17 were active at the horticultural project.

One of the farmers Mr Micheal Maforaga told the assistant minister that the project had only six active farmers, adding that when the project started in 2004 17 farmers were each allocated one hectare.

Mr Maforaga said most of them were based in Gaborone, adding that his words were evidenced by the number of plots used.

The committee members indicated that it was not good for the plots to be under utilised even though some of them needed a bigger piece of land to increase their produce.

They suggested that it would be better if the government would have allocated plots to serious farmers who would utilise it and feed the nation in this era of [continue reading]

Dairy farmers ask for help

26 July, 2008 in Botswana, Business

source: BOPA
23 July, 2008

KANYE – Milk production will remain forever low in Botswana until government help dairy farmers with the technology that determines the breed of the calf, says Mr Batshwari Dintwa, a prominent diary farmer in the Southern District.

Contemporary competitive farming, he said, calls for such technology as it guarantees the sex of the offspring as opposed to the current practice “where one can only hope and pray that expectant cattle would give delivery to female calves.” The current trend, he said, is not cost effective and can be a deterrent to potential dairy farmers.

According to Mr Dintwa, the technology is practiced in Europe and has proven to be an effective way to scale up milk production as it augments female cattle population.” Mr Dintwa, owner of Diary Farm House near Molapowabojang, regretted the Ministry of Agriculture has given a cold shoulder to farmers suggestion to bring this technology to Botswana, saying it was too costly for individual farmers.

“As individuals we do not have the financial muscle to afford such technologies and we believe government could rescue us in this regard,” he added.

He said to acquire the technology, farmers could be [continue reading]

US strengthening sanctions against Mugabe regime

26 July, 2008 in Zimbabwe

source: SW Radio Africa
By Tererai Karimakwenda
25 July 2008

The United States Embassy in Harare said the Bush administration has strengthened sanctions against individuals blamed for the brutal pre-election violence. President Bush signed a new Executive Order on Friday.

The new sanctions by the White House and the State Department target individuals that they ‘hold responsible for subverting the will of the people of Zimbabwe, people associated with the regime and those responsible for the recent violence and political problems.’

This time the US government has included media personalities and academics on the new sanctions list. The sanctions restrict both travel by individuals and their finances.

According to a US Treasury Department spokesperson, the sanctions would be imposed on 17 companies or entities and an Omani national for their links to Mugabe’s government. The so-called entities include Operation Sovereign Legitimacy, which is the commercial arm of the Zimbabwean Army, the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), a minerals marketing and export agent, the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO), and a number of banks and holding companies.

In their statement, the Treasury Department said: “Robert Mugabe, his senior officials and [continue reading]