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Tension in Botswana Fuels Mogae Critics
Jun 17, 2005 12:22 PM
By Jeff Miller
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(Rapaport...June 17, 2005) Diamond cutting is a traditional handcraft, but now it is computerized, said Botswana’s President Fetus Mogae. Botswana is the world's largest producer of diamonds, and Mogae has been on a mission to boost the diamond cutting and polishing industry in his home country.
After visiting cutting plants in India this past May, Mogae said, "That is why countries such as ours with low labor costs will be able compete," by implementing training measures in Botswana. But his critics warn that if Mogae does not attempt to diversify Botswana away from its reliance upon diamonds, all efforts of attracting foreign investors will fail. Furthermore, Botswana faces social issues they say Mogae does not address, including uncontrolled growth of HIV/AIDs and an epidemic of suicides and murders.
On June 13, 2005, Mogae met with President George W Bush --along with presidents of Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia, and Niger-- to discuss new engagements between the United States and those nations of Africa set to grow business ties. Fourteen nations in Africa have been given a debt relief package by the Group of Eight (G8) by about $40 billion, but Botswana may not be on the list due to its elevated level as a middle-income economy.
Bush said that by removing debt, "We'll help millions of Africans improve their lives and grow their economies." In 2004 exports from across Africa to the United States rose 88 percent, mostly due to oil exports, but non-oil exports rose 22 percent.
Mogae told the press that he experienced a "very satisfactory exchange" of ideas on issues with Bush, such as tariff relief and HIV/AIDS funds, and was happy that the existing trade partnership with the United States has been extended through year 2015. Due to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Botswana, life expectancy at birth has now fallen to 40 years, but neither Mogae nor Bush stated specific funding figures or programs.
Meanwhile, financial analysts in Botswana urge Mogae to pay more attention to a decline in agricultural production, or such reliance upon diamond exports could pose a threat to the country's economic growth.
The Botswana Institute of Development and Policy Analysis (BIDPA) warned that the government's monopoly of beef and ostrich industries was responsible for declining output, and commented that state-run Botswana Meat Commission failed to meet its annual export quota to the European Union market.
Botswana's Central Statistics Office says the national cattle herd had declined to 1.7 million in 2005 from 3 million in the late 1980s. Government control of the beef market, says BIDPA, was largely responsible for the uncompetitiveness of the cattle market, which had led to several livestock farmers choosing to opt-out of the market. BIDPA warns that declines in the livestock industry would seriously impact the country's mostly rural population.
The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs, Charles Tibone, told the Botswana Press Agency that reliance on the country's lucrative mining industry had led to wholesale neglect of the agriculture sector, including crop and livestock production.
Tibone called upon the government to diversify the economy, adding that greater support should be directed towards bolstering agricultural development and not the mining sector.
The Botswana National Productivity Centre's annual blueprint also urged that national exports must diversify as soon as possible, and cautioned that the boom in the world diamond trade would not last forever.
One man however, Kenneth Good, 72, was escorted out of Botswana for publishing his disagreement on how Mogae is running Botswana. Mogae handpicked Lieutenant-General Ian Khama as successor and vice president of the country in early 2005.
The Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA) calls Mogae's decision to deport the Australian-born lecturer a violation of Good's civil rights.
Botswana security agents, following orders from Mogae and the Botswana’s High Court, escorted Good out of the country May 31, 2005. On February 18, 2005, Mogae first ordered Good to leave Botswana after co-publishing the book Presidential Succession in Botswana: No Model for Africa.
The Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Ditshwanelo) and the Botswana chapter of MISA said the deportation violated Good's constitutional rights to a fair trial, chiefly because the presidential decree could not be challenged in terms of the constitution.
MISA-Botswana said Good's deportation was "contrary to the provisions of the country's Vision 2016," which calls for greater government transparency and accountability. MISA says that Good was treated like a "dangerous criminal" and was denied access to his 17-year-old child, who remained in Botswana.
Good has authored many reports considered to be politically sensitive, and told BBC news after deportation, that a growth of crime across Botswana during the past several months poses a great risk to democractic development. The Botswana National Front (BNF) has said that Good's political analysis is accurate, and his calls to reform the constitution, in order to protect local and foreign citizens from excessive, unquestionable, and unconstitutional political powers is a measure they will take-up.
Botswana is run by an elite that make decisions, particularly on the presidential succession, behind closed doors, and they manipulate state media, Good said after his departure.
In reading press reports from Gaborone, Botswana, residents are growing more fearful of crime waves overtaking the city. One writer, Dichaba Molobe, describes for allafrica.com, "I detect surrender and helplessness. And these are signals of a society in which the police do not enforce the rule of law and instead let criminals violate private property laws with impunity." Molobe writes that the rule of thumb from the police department is workers "are advised not to work alone in the office at night. All of a sudden work becomes a hazardous vocation. No one is there to offer you protection. Don't work alone at night!"
On the evening of June 16th, during a private dinner party at the Gaborone home of Ben Joubert, deputy of South Africa's high commissioner to Botswana, Eunice Komane, guests were assaulted by five robbers. One of the robbers held a gun to a guest's head, and some guests were burnt with an iron, Komane told SADC news.
"Everything they could lay their hands on was stolen, including jewelry, watches and wedding rings," Komane said. Joubert and his injured guests were treated for injuries at the scene.
Komane told the press that a very large wave of crime has hit Gaborone recently, with a trend towards undressing victims and branding them with irons. The police have no suspects in the attack at press time.
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Tags:
Economy, European Union, Government, India, Jewelry, Namibia, Polishing, Production, South Africa, United States
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