Archive for September, 2009
source: Mmegi
LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent
The name of former Minister of Health, Joy Phumaphi, keeps cropping up among the list of favourites for the position of Vice President after the general elections.
According to sources in the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), if she does not become the next Vice President, Phumaphi will become the next Governor of Bank of Botswana, taking over from Linah Mohohlo who has been at helm of the Central Bank for close to 10 years.
Phumaphi has been a senior official of the World Health Organisation (WHO). She did not complete her five-year term as an MP after the 1999 general elections, quitting to join the United Nations (UN) body. Though she was a Specially Elected MP and a backbencher, Phumaphi was [continue reading]
source: SW Radio Africa
Gerry Jackson
29 September, 2009
The Swiss government have cleared Nestle of any wrong doing over the fact that the company trades with Grace Mugabe. The disingenuous argument being used is that the Swiss regulations that bar trade with the Mugabes, only apply to companies in Switzerland, and not subsidiaries in other parts of the world.
But the fact is the illegal theft and plunder of farms has been the biggest factor in the destruction of Zimbabwe’s economy – and Grace, her husband and the rest of the ruling elite are directly responsible for this. And the destruction is continuing at an escalating pace due to a mad scramble for the last remaining big farming businesses.
One farmer who has been on the receiving end of the madness for years now is Charles Lock of Karori farm in the Headlands district. His farm workers have been beaten shot, starved and [continue reading]
source: The Botswana Gazette
Written by EDITOR
Tuesday, 29 September 2009 07:27
Questions as to why DIS was Asked to escort him out of his office
The Acting Permanent Secretary to the President, Mr. Bruce Palai, has confirmed that government has terminated Mr. Moses Lekaukau’s contract. The Director General of the Government Implementation Coordination Office’s (GICO) contract was terminated abruptly last Tuesday and with immediate effect via a letter that Palai personally handed to him. The reasons for terminating Lekaukau’s contract are still not known.
It is believed that President Lt. Gen. Ian Khama ordered Lekaukau’s firing. When he went to sack Lekaukau Palai was accompanied by [continue reading]
source: SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
29 September 2009
The Swiss national food giant Nestle has been criticised heavily for buying milk from Grace Mugabe, who controversially has ‘acquired’ six farms, most of them taken from white commercial farmers. It was exposed this week that Mrs Mugabe’s Gushungo Dairy Estate (formerly known as Foyle Farm) sells up to a million litres of milk a year to Nestlé Zimbabwe. The previous owner was forced to sell his farm at just a fraction of its value, after a prolonged campaign of violence in 2003.
Human rights groups and concerned individuals have criticized the multinational company for doing business with Mrs Mugabe, a woman who is responsible for illegal takeovers of land. The UK Telegraph newspaper revealed at the weekend that Robert and Grace Mugabe own a total of 12 farms between them. South African Radio 702 on Monday said it was inundated with calls from irate listeners who [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
STAFF WRITER
The European Commission (EC), the Government of Botswana and civil society yesterday witnessed the handing over of the first Grant Contracts/Projects in support of Civil Society Organisations’ (CSOs) capacity building and service delivery to community members in vulnerable parts of Botswana.
The event took place in Gaborone where 14 organisations will directly benefit from these grants to be implemented at national, district and grassroots level over the coming six to nine months.
The Non-State Actors Capacity Building Programme is the first European Commission programme jointly managed through tripartite arrangements in which the EC, the government and civil society organisations cooperate on [continue reading]
source: News24
2009-09-29 22:12
Johannesburg – President Jacob Zuma threatened criminals with a shoot-to-kill policy on Tuesday, re-igniting the debate on the rights of criminals in a country where 50 people are murdered every day.
“Criminals don’t take an oath to do warning shots,” Zuma told 1 000 police station commanders at the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria.
“If you take a gun out [on] me, that intent is more than clear, the next thing the [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
CALISTUS KOLANTSHO
Correspondent
SELEBI-PHIKWE: President Ian Khama Khama has said that a company manufacturing Anti-Retroviral (ARV) drugs will open in Selebi-Phikwe soon.
He said the company will invest P210 million in the project and hire more than 1,000 workers. Khama made the announcement during a political rally in Selebi-Phikwe over the weekend. He said he has declared October 16 a public holiday so that many people can get a chance to cast their votes. “Batswana must go and collect their Omang (identinty) cards so that they can be able to use their right of participating in elections,” he said. He stated that there are 47,000 Omang cards that have not been collected by the owners who [continue reading]
source: SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
29 September 2009
Roy Bennett, the MDC-T Deputy Minister of Agriculture nominee, has said the security situation in the country is now one of concern, eight months after the formation of the inclusive government. The MDC official, who is still waiting to be sworn into office by Robert Mugabe, said it’s ‘rule by the gun’ and the MDC has no means of dealing with the problems bedevilling the coalition government, because ZANU PF is sharply in control.
Bennett was responding to criticism on SW Radio Africa by commercial farmers who accuse the MDC of not doing anything to stop the violent farm invasions. One such farmer is Charles Lock from the Headlands district who is being threatened by soldiers and he and his farm workers are being forced off the farm, despite several High Court judgments in his favour. The soldiers are acting on behalf of [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
Patricia Maganu
Staff Writer
FRANCISTOWN: It seems people have not figured out the difference between the Ombudsman and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC).
This became evident at a breakfast seminar hosted by the Ombudsman in Francistown last week. The seminar was aimed at bringing the Ombudsman closer to the people, especially the NGOs and the private sector.
The head of station of the Ombudsman’s office in Francistown region, Edwin Batswalelwang explained to the participants the different roles the [continue reading]
source: allAfrica
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
28 September 2009
DANISH ambassador to Zambia Thomas Schjerbeck has said diplomats accredited to Zambia should desist from commenting on internal matters of the country but instead help the Government in the fight against corruption.
Speaking in an interview in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Schjerbeck said that internal matters of Zambia should be left to Zambians considering that the nation was a sovereign State, adding that it was the policy of ambassadors not to comment on internal issues.
“We are not here to make public comments on internal matters of your country and I will not make comments on issues that are internal but will help you in the fight against corruption,” he said.
Mr Schjerbeck said as a [continue reading]
source: SW Radio Africa
By Violet Gonda
28 September 2009
Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party have always insisted that the government’s land reform programme is meant to correct ‘historical imbalances’ and give land to landless black Zimbabweans, through a one man one farm policy. But over the last decade productive farms have been taken from white commercial farmers and given to a new black elite. This weekend journalist Peta Thornycroft also revealed that Robert and Grace Mugabe ‘own’ 12 farms between them.
The President is said to have bought one farm near his rural home in Zvimba, Mashonaland West but then he went on to grab five other neighbouring farms.
Grace is said to have taken over six commercial farms, including Gushungo Dairy Estate in Mazowe, formerly known as Foyle Farm, which was the top dairy farm in Zimbabwe. The farm owner faced a campaign of violence over many months in 2003 until he was forced to sell his property at a quarter of its value, and ultimately he only received 40 percent of [continue reading]
source: allAfrica
America.gov (Washington, DC)
Charles W. Corey
24 September 2009
American and African entrepreneurs and investors will meet face to face to develop relationships and to establish and expand business, trade and investment ties at the Seventh Biennial U.S.-Africa Business Summit, which convenes in Washington September 29-October 1.
Kevin Boyd, director of the Office of Africa at the U.S. Department of Commerce — who is helping to plan the summit — sat down with America.gov to preview the event, which is being organized by the U.S. Corporate Council on Africa (CCA). Boyd is especially optimistic about more U.S. business in Angola and Rwanda.
“You have heads of state from [continue reading]
source: Mmegi
Baboki Kayawe
Staff Writer
The Botswana government and the European Union hosted a one-day seminar last Thursday to evaluate development cooperation between them. The seminar looked at the results of an evaluation of the European Commission (EC) Botswana Development Co-operation from 1997 to 2013, which was taken in June this year.
Head of the EU delegation, Paul Malin said the review has shown that the construction of technical colleges is the most visible development born from the cooperation.
Malin said they seek to learn lessons from the previous projects in planning for the next funding phase. He explained that the report will be taken into account as they review strategy and financial allocation. He added that they are currently engaged in [continue reading]
source: Fin24
2009/09/28 05:56:00 PM
Cape Town – Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel told MPs on Monday that job losses have been widespread across the economy, but the government’s response to the economic crisis, in particular the impact on the construction sector of pressing ahead with much-needed infrastructure investment, has been acting to counter the employment losses from the recession, although not sufficiently to outweigh them.
Giving a written reply to a question from Philip Dexter of the Congress of the People, Patel gave figures from the two employment surveys conducted by Stats SA – the Quarterly Employment Survey and the Labour Force Survey.
The former tracks employment in [continue reading]
source: BOPA
29 September, 2009
GABORONE – Botswana may soon become a strategic hub for telecommunication and scientific technology development for southern Africa.
That is if the countrys efforts to woo Chinese companies to set up telecommunications business here succeed.
When Minister of Communications, Science and Technology (MCST) revealed Botswanas eagerness to Ambassador Liu Huanxing, the latter concurred that given the countrys location, it could be a strategic hub for development of telecommunication and scientific technology.
This came to light during yesterdays signing ceremony for the installation of video conferencing equipment, which [continue reading]
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