SADC education and skills development sector recognises the importance of human development and challenges facing the region.

Speaking at the 17th IDM Botswana, Lesotho and eSwatini joint graduation ceremony in Gaborone recently, Assistant Minister for State President, Mr Dumizweni Mthimkhulu said industrial development and poverty alleviation could be addressed through education.

He also said SADC countries were committed to improving access to quality higher education, which was illustrated by enrolment rates of about 25 per cent which was superior to the sub-Saharan averages of nine per cent while Botswana stood at around 20 per cent.

Minister Mthimkhulu also said the region’s employment and labour sector had noted the mismatch between the strong SADC economy and unemployment rates, particularly among the youth.

He said it was the responsibility of higher learning institutions such as IDM to rise to the challenge and play a meaningful role in developing and offering programmes that would improve access to quality higher education.

He said rapid advancements in technology had forced institutions of higher learning to refocus, adapt and embrace change in order to stay relevant, adding that the fourth industrial revolution was upon them hence they needed to adapt and innovate.

Source: Daily News

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has gone into isolation after testing positive for Covid-19, the presidency said Monday in a statement.

“Members of the public are assured that His Excellency the President does not have any symptoms and will continue to receive close medical monitoring by his medical doctors,” the statement said, adding that the Botswana leader took a routine test.

The communique further stated that the isolation was “a precautionary measure in accordance with Botswana’s health protocols.”

Deputy President Slumber Tshogwane will act in his position until further notice.

The diamond-rich country became one of only six African countries that have achieved the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of its population.

The other five African countries that have met the goal that was set in May by the World Health Assembly, the world’s highest health policy-setting body, are Seychelles, Mauritius, Morocco, Tunisia and Cape Verde.

Botswana, the only mainland sub-Saharan African nation to reach the target, is a surprise entry.

According to forecasts made at the end of October, only five African countries, less than 10 percent of Africa’s 54 nations, were projected to hit the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of their people.

At the time, three African countries – Seychelles, Mauritius and Morocco – had already met the goal and just two more countries – Tunisia and Cape Verde – were projected to reach the target.

The High Court in Botswana has dismissed an application for a search and seizure warrant for the country’s former President, Ian Seletse Khama. 

Intelligence Director-General Peter Magosi’s application for permission to raid Khama’s residences was triggered by the allegation that Khama threatened Botswana’s security.

The former President has also previously been accused of conspiring to bring incumbent President Mokgweetsi Masisi down.

Social media was abuzz on Sunday, with reports that Khama’s arrest was imminent. However, the application for the warrant was not to take the former president into custody.

In the court papers, the Intelligence Agency says Khama may be in violation of the Penal Code which includes the concealment of treason, obtaining unlicensed firearms, and possession of arms of war.

This goes back to a case of three of Khama’s private security being accused of possessing illegal firearms. The matter was later dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

Khama and his predecessor Mokgweetsi Masisi had a fallout in the run-up to the 2019 elections and there’s been a cold war ever since.

Former Botswana President Ian Khama has rejected claims that he fled the country to neighboring South Africa after a court ordered him to surrender his weapons to the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS).

According to Mmegi, a Botswana newspaper, Khama allegedly fled the country whilst in a stalemate with the intelligence agency on how the former’s weapons should be handed to its Sebele office.

He reportedly left Serowe on Monday morning heading for Gaborone, but his trip was allegedly altered as it took him to his farm in Tswapong, possibly just as a “decoy”.

The former president allegedly ended up at the Martin’s Drift border where he supposedly parted ways with his usual security detail.

Private security took over as Khama crossed the border into South Africa pressing his own security detail to return home.

A helicopter believed to be waiting in one of the farms allegedly airlifted him without following the normal travel protocols, which raised fears that Khama could have skipped the country ahead of handing in the weapons.

The former president, in his response to Mmegi enquiries, rubbished reports of skipping the country calling the allegations “hogwash”. He said:

“I am in SA and I don’t need permission from anyone to travel. I haven’t skipped the country. I have travelled to SA as many other people do.”

Protocol, however, demands that ahead of any travel, Khama as a former president should declare to the Office of the President (OP) and the foreign affairs ministry his travel plans and details.

Unconfirmed information also suggests that Khama could have dashed to Pretoria to report his security concerns to SA President Cyril Ramaphosa, to seek guidance in the midst of his troubles with President Mokgweetsi Masisi-led government’s perceived harassment.

However, Khama was yet to respond whether he planned to meet Ramaphosa or not in an inquiry sent to him by the publication on Monday morning.

Quizzed about Khama’s alleged travel outside the country without adherence to the travel protocols, permanent secretary to the President (PSP) Emma Peloetletse told Mmegi she was not aware that Khama had traveled. Said Peloetletse:

My office is not aware of Khama’s possible travel outside the country. Ordinarily, when he travels outside the country, protocol dictates that such travel is cleared with the OP.

A 29-year-old Zimbabwean man who attacked and repeatedly raped for three hours a Botswana schoolgirl has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Godfrey Moyo was 24 when he pounced on his unsuspecting victim at around 6 am in March 2016.

The girl, then an 18-year-old Form Four student, was walking to Serowe Sports Complex to attend sports even when she realised Moyo was a man following her.

“I ignored him thinking it was just a passerby. But then I felt him holding my hand and he dragged me to a nearby bush against my will. I tried to scream for help but the person choked and slapped me,” she told a local court in Francistown, Botswana.

She added Moyo then took off his belt and threatened to hang her if she screamed before ordering her to undress and proceeded to sexually assault her, choking her every time she tried to call for help.

Thinking her torment was coming to an end, Moyo dragged the girl deeper into the bush, where he had left some of his belongings. He removed a condom from his bag, and told her to take off her clothes again, and raped her again.

The girl told the court she was later able to recognise Moyo after having ‘spent about three hours with him’ during the ordeal.

“He had short dreadlocks and two scars on his face,” she told the police when identifying Moyo as her attacker four months later. His DNA was also found in a condom recovered at the crime scene.

However, Moyo maintained his innocence throughout the trial, pleading for mercy, and telling the court he has a five-year-old daughter that depended on him.

Passing sentence last Wednesday, Judge Matlhogonolo Phuthego noted that cases of rape and gender-based violence were on the rise in Botswana, and it was the court’s responsibility to hand out stern punishments to offenders and deter would-be offenders.

“I, therefore, sentence the accused person to 12 years imprisonment backdated to the period spent in prison,” closed Phuthego.

Moyo, with his dreads, long since shaved, left for prison with his head bowed, walking slowly due to his shackles.

Friends and church colleagues of Bishop Godfrey who allegedly committed suicide are reeling in shock and traumatized.

Godfrey, who goes by the name Bishop P Godfrey on social media, allegedly shot a video of himself committing suicide on Sunday evening.

According to a few friends and those close to Godfrey who preferred to speak anonymously for fear of victimization, the deceased was from Molepolole in Botswana and a pastor at Holiness Union Church in Metsimotlhabe, Botswana.

On Sunday night, he went live on Facebook and proceeded to put a rope around his neck.

He was seen in the short video hanging by the neck until he took his last breath.

Together with many others who have openly shared the hair-raising details of Godfrey’s death on social media, they watched helplessly with hearts pounding against their chest walls as a seemingly depressed and unbothered Godfrey breathed his last.

Sources close to the matter this week said the video was later removed from social media. At the time, many took it as a big fat joke thinking that they will get a better explanation.

However, it has since emerged that their loved one is indeed no more.

Broadhurst police have since confirmed that they are investigating a suicide case that was reported to them on Sunday evening.

Detective Sizani James could not be drawn into confirming if the man in question was Bishop Godfrey, saying it was too early to mention the names of the deceased.

“A man in his 30s was found hanging by the neck at Ledumang in Gaborone, the incident was reported to us by his girlfriend”, James said. James noted that they have already identified the man’s family and that he hails from Molepolole.

“The girlfriend tells us that she stepped out for a while only to come back home to find her boyfriend hanging by the neck in the sitting room”.

The police are still busy investigating the matter.

Much has not been gathered from the girlfriend at this point.

Meanwhile, Godfrey’s friends have flooded his timeline with commiserations. Some are saying as a pastor, he should have surrendered all his troubles to God.

It is gut-wrenching for them, as they never thought it would end so tragically for their beloved pastor.

They describe him as an ever-smiling soul, kind-hearted, and forever full of life. Little did they know he was silently dying inside.

Some allege that before the suicide video, Godfrey had earlier during the day posted a video of himself crying. “He never said anything but just cried, the video is also not there.”

What is currently visible to all on Godfrey’s timeline and seen by The Midweek Sun is a message and a picture of him smiling saying, “This smile for a very long time hid so many tears.”

This smile held on for quite a very long time. There is a moment in life where nothing makes sense at all.

“Those that love me thank you, I have tried to be a better person but the more I tried the more it seemed I became bad as some said and are saying.

No one knows your pain, there are moments where you just park a car by the roadside and tears just flow”.

“Honestly I have held on for a very long time it’s hard and it’s getting harder, anything can happen”.

The video has since been taken down by Facebook however you can watch his recent video as he opened up about depression

WATCH

Miners in Botswana have found what is said to be the 3rd largest diamond of its kind on the planet, bringing pride and new hope to the African nation.

Diamond firm Debswana has announced the discovery of the 1,098-carat beauty that it described as the third largest of its kind in existence.

Debswana’s managing director, Lynette Armstrong, showcased the stone, which was found on 1 June at the Jwaneng mine, to Botswana’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, last Wednesday.

When it comes to the largest diamonds in the world, it takes 3rd place, right behind the 3,106-carat Cullinan found in South Africa in 1905 and the 1,109-carat Lesedi La Rona uncovered in Botswana in 2015.

“This is the largest diamond to be recovered by Debswana in its history of over 50 years in operation,” Armstrong said.

“From our preliminary analysis it could be the world’s third largest gem-quality stone. We are yet to make a decision on whether to sell it through the De Beers channel or through the state owned Okavango Diamond Company.”

She added that the “rare and extraordinary stone … means so much in the context of diamonds and Botswana.”.

“It brings hope to a nation that is struggling.”

Minerals Minister, Lefoko Moagi, said the diamond’s discovery, which is yet to be given its own name but measures 73 by 52 by 27mm, comes at the perfect time, as the pandemic had a negative impact on diamond sales last year.

The firm partners with Anglo American’s De Beers and the country’s government, which takes as much as 80% of the income from the sales process.

Production at Debswana fell by 29% last year to 16.6m carats and sales fell by 30% to $2.1bn as the industry took a beating by the pandemic.

The firm hopes to increase sales by 38% to pre-covid levels of 23m carats this year as the global diamond market gets back on its feet.

A new bridge over the Zambezi River linking Botswana and Zambia has been officially opened and should boost trade in the region.

At a cost of more than $250m (£177m), the Kazungula road and rail bridge was paid for by the African Development Bank and a loan from the Japanese government.

Before it was built cargo had to be unloaded from lorries and taken across on barges.

Truck drivers can also now avoid long waits at Zimbabwe’s border.

The Botswana government tweeted this shot of the 1km-long (0.6 mile) bridge earlier today:

Other countries in the region should get an economic boost as it’ll speed up trade between South Africa’s ports and countries to the north, including the Democratic Republic of Congo.

And there’s a reason why it’s curved – the former President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe was opposed to the project.

So, in order to avoid encroaching on Zimbabwean territory, the bridge couldn’t be built in a straight line

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has gone into self-isolation after coronavirus cases were detected among his staff members.

The president was to be part of the southern regional talks in Mozambique meant to discuss the insecurity in Cabo Delgado province.

His vice-president will lead the delegation from Botswana for a meeting on Wednesday and a summit on Thursday in Mozambique.

The attacks in Cabo Delgado are of great concern to the southern Africa region as refugees flee to neighbouring countries.

Remember the two cab killers,Moabi Mabiletsa and Matshidiso Boikanyo,have been executed today in the morning

Botswana Prisons Service has confirmed the execution,both convicted murderers who 2013 brutally killed a cab driver Vincent Mopipi, stabbing him 44 times with a knife.

Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal in February 2019. Justice was served today early this morning by hanging

Statement from Prisons reads:

The Botswana Prison Service wishes to inform the Public that the execution of the death penalty passed on Mr Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa, 33 years of Mafitlhakgosi in Tlokweng and his co-accused Mr Matshidiso Tshid Boikanyo, 39 years of Lesetlheng Ward in Tlokweng, was carried out today, Saturday  28th March  2020 at Gaborone Central Prison in the morning.

This follows a death sentence which was imposed on them by the

Gaborone High Court on the 01 December for the offence of murder.

The High Court convicted Mr Moabi Seabelo Mabiletsa and Mr Matshidiso Tshidii Boikanyo for the murder  of  Mr Vincent Mopipi, a cab driver, on the 13th September 2013, at Block 9 location in Gaborone.

They later appealed the judgement but were dismissed on the 08 February 2019 by the Court of Appeal.

In a rather shocking development, a Botswana woman who was raped by a Zimbabwean man refused to testify against him but instead asked the police to provide her with his contacts as she wants him to come back for more

The publication has established from a local publication New Zimbabwe, that prosecutors in Botswana were left stunned when one of the rape victims (name not supplied) who was raped by Oscar Chabaya (34) in Botswana refused to testify against him. The lady is alleged to have instead asked the police handling the case to supply her with Chabaya’s contact details as he had sexually satisfied her.

Chabaya this week appeared for his ruling before an Extension II Magistrate, Lentlhabetse Willie in Tlokweng facing three counts of rape, one attempted rape, two robberies, and one common theft three years ago.

However, one of the victims refused to appear in court and testify against Chabaya, instead telling the police to find his cell number as he had satisfied her when he raped her in 2017.

Chabaya’s rape spree is alleged to have started sometime in March 2017, where he would gain entry into his victims’ houses through windows left open. Once inside, he would search the house for cell phones before raping the victims without protection.

According to the state, Chabaya targeted tertiary students under the age of 24 before breaking into their homes at night to rape them. He would tell his victims he was good in bed and they would call him begging for more.

Before raping his victims, Chabaya who was always armed with a knife is said to have toyed with the women.

He was only arrested in April 2017 – after police matched his DNA to an earlier robbery case in which he cut his hand on a gate when making his escape.

However, in spite of the other lady’s refusal to testify against him, the state had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the sexual intercourse occurred without the victims’ consent.

In convicting Chabaya, Magistrate Willie said rape cases were on the increase in Botswana and perpetrators like Chabaya deserved stiffer sentences.

At least 40 vultures have been poisoned in Botswana, the latest victims of a mass poisoning in the country in recent months.

Vultures play a critical role in keeping ecosystems clean of diseases found in rotting carcasses, but in Southern Africa, they are sometimes poisoned deliberately by poachers, or accidentally by farmers.

Pictures posted on Facebook show dozens of mostly white-backed vultures lying dead beside a river or being burned to prevent further poisoning.

Conservation group, Raptors Botswana, said the poisoning was reported by a farmer in the Rakops area, in the centre of the country.

Sources have told Eyewitness News that up to 60 of the critically endangered birds could have been killed in this incident.

Kerri Wolter of South Africa-based conservation group VulPro said many of these vultures would still have been feeding chicks on the nest.

In June last year, more than 530 mostly white-backed vultures were poisoned by poachers in the north-east of the country. It’s not clear whether this latest tragedy was accidental or a deliberate poisoning of the birds.

Polygamy, an African tradition that had been turned into a big abomination is slowly creeping its way back to civilisation and even religious clerics are embracing it.

A popular pastor from Botswana named Sekati Kemmonye has become the talk of the town after proudly parading his two irresistible wives on social media.

It all started with a photo of the cleric draped in identical shirts with his ladies as they sat next to each other during a family safari.

Their fits collectively spelt out love and their faces glimmered with satisfaction as the proud husband flaunted the fruits of togetherness.

His photographer Innocent Suge also marvelled at how the family lived in harmony and shared a bond so strong.

Sekati went ahead to post a picture of himself and his two wives standing tall with their kids who were also dressed in matching clothes.

It was a family affair like no other.

They knew nothing like segregation and made sure everyone went on their outing. The tribe enjoyed a stroll and drive in a national park.

Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi has quarantined himself after an official working closely with him tested positive for Covid-19, a government statement says.

Some other people in the president’s inner circle are also self-isolating, it adds.

The government encourages people to continue taking precautions in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

The country of 2.25 million people has so far recorded 227 cases of the virus and one death.

Hundreds of elephants have died mysteriously in Botswana’s famed Okavango Delta, the head of the wildlife department said Thursday, ruling out poaching as the tusks were found intact.

The landlocked southern African country has the world’s largest elephant population, estimated to be around 130,000.

“We have had a report of 356 dead elephants in the area north of the Okavango Delta and we have confirmed 275 so far,” Cyril Taolo, the acting director of the department of Wildlife and National Parks, told AFP in a text message.

“We do not suspect poaching since (the) animals were found with tusks,” he said.

Samples have been collected and sent to South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada for testing.

Similar deaths were first reported in May when authorities found 12 carcasses in just a week in two villages in the northwest of the country.

The latest discoveries were flagged by a wildlife conservation charity, Elephants Without Borders (EWB), whose confidential report referring to the 356 dead elephants, was leaked to the media on Wednesday.

EWB suspects the elephants have been dying in the area for about three months.

According to the report dated June 19, 2020, “70 percent of elephant carcasses were considered recent, having died about a month ago, and 30 percent of the carcasses appeared fresh, ranging from one day to two weeks old”.

“There was good evidence to show elephants of all ages and sex appear to be dying,” said the report penned by EWB director Mike Chase.

Several live elephants appeared to have been weak, lethargic and emaciated, with some showing signs of disorientation, difficulty in walking or limping, EWB said.

“One elephant was observed walking in circles, unable to change direction although being encouraged by other herd members,” said the report.

Botswana police in Tutume are looking for a yet to be identified Zimbabwean man who allegedly murdered his 27-year-old live-in partner in the country before vanishing.

Tutume Police Station commander, superintendent Jerry Halahala said that they are searching for the suspect whose identity is still unknown.

Though the police are on a manhunt for the suspect, reports show that it is a hard task at hand tracing the unknown suspect.

The police said that they have engaged the Zimbabwe Republic Police through International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) so that they can assist in tracking the suspect. He is believed to have crossed the Botswana-Zimbabwe border illegally to his home country.

Halahala said that they are using the description of the suspect in the search, as they do not have his full name and age.

According to Halahala, a neighbour who reported the matter to the police said that she went to the deceased’s compound to charge her mobile phone and found her dead and alone in her bedroom.

The neigbour made the shocking discovery on May 31, 2020 at Ipungu ward in Nkange.

Strange enough the suspect, who has vanished into thin air after the horrific murder, is believed to be the deceased’s boyfriend and father of her three children.

The police urged the community to desist from harbouring illegal immigrants and urged them to report suspected illegal immigrants in their community to village leaders such as dikgosi, area councillor or even the police.

He said: “When serious crimes like this are committed, we end up failing to identify the suspect(s) because villagers do not know much about them. Like in this case, the suspect had stayed with the deceased for a long period of time, but still remained a stranger to many in the community”.

He pleaded with those who know the suspect or are aware of his whereabouts, to come forward and assist the police with information that can be helpful to the investigation.

Police in Botswana are investigating an incident in which a 16-year-old girl is alleged to have committed abortion with the alleged help of her 19-year-old boyfriend.

Confirming the incident, Letlhakane Station Commander Michael Maphephu said that last week they arrested a 19-year–old young man in connection with defilement after he allegedly assisted his teenage girlfriend to terminate pregnancy.

He said that prior to the young man’s arrest, his office received a report from Letlhakane primary hospital starting that a teenage girl was brought in by her parents and she was suspected to have terminated her pregnancy.

He also said that the teenage girl arrived at the hospital bleeding profusely and experiencing abnormal stomach pains.

According to the police boss, the girl later confirmed to have swallowed abortion pills to terminate the pregnancy.

Maphephu further said that during interrogation the teenage girl told them that she was pregnant and his boyfriend convinced her to purchase ‘abortion pills’ in order to terminate the pregnancy.

He further said that investigations led to a 25-year-old Motswana woman based in here (Francistown) who allegedly sold abortion pills to the young couple.

Police investigations in the role played by the alleged elderly woman who aided the teenage couple to obtain abortion pills are continuing.

The police investigations were boosted by the recovery of “eight pills” suspected to be abortion pills found in the woman’s dwelling house.

The discovery follows the police’s thorough search in the woman’s house.

Maphephu said the teenage girl is still recovering from the hospital while the 19-year-old young man is facing defilement charges and is further remanded in custody.