THE AFRICAN STORY ADVERTISE WITH US DON’T BE LEFT BEHIND ISSUE NUMBER 746 VOLUME 2 16 NOV - 22 NOV 2020 Botswana retailer Choppies resumes trading on South Africa exchange page 4 Strong leadership fought Covid-19 in Africa The next step is to harness BOTSWANA’S research RELATIONS WITH page 10 Karowe Mine NAMIBIA PUT TO produces a 998 THE TEST – AGAIN! carat diamond • Shooting and killing of 4 Namibians by BDF in the Chobe area raises an uproar in Namibia • The two governments constitute a joint-investigation into the shooting • Namibians demonstrate in Windhoek over killing of innocent page 11 residents of Zambezi region by BDF 2 Echo Report Echo Newspaper 16 Nov - 22 Nov 2020 THE AFRICAN STORY News, Finance, Travel and Sport Telephone: (267) 3933 805/6. E-mail: newsdesk@echo. co.bw Advertising Telephone: (267) 3933 805/6 E-mail: [email protected] Sales & Marketing Manager Ruele Ramoeng [email protected] Editor Bright Kholi Botswana’s relations with [email protected] Head of Design Ame Kolobetso [email protected] Namibia put to the test – Again! Distribution & Circulation Mogapi Ketletseng [email protected] The bilateral relations between been escalated to the highest that President Geingob had President Masisi has been in Echo is published by Botswana and Namibia is again offices of the two countries, with met with the bereaved families direct contact with his Namibian YMH Publishing put to the test following the the two countries confirming and informed them that his counterpart. YMH Publishing, Unit 3, Kgale Court, Plot 128, shooting and killing of four that they have jointly agreed government took the incident He said the deceased, GIFP, Gaborone Namibian nationals in the to launch an investigation into in a most serious light and suspected to be elephant and Postal address: Chobe’s Sedudu area by the the shooting with the hope to that relevant agencies were rhino poachers, were shot dead P O BOX 840, Botswana Defence Force (BDF) resolve the matter amicably. mobilised to shed light on the along Chobe River near during Gaborone, recently. Since the incident, the President Hage Geingob and unfortunate incident. an anti-poaching exercise by Botswana Telephone: (267) 3933 805/6. two countries have been ceased his Botswana counterpart, The statement further the Botswana Defense Force E-mail: [email protected] with the matter, with Namibian Mokgweetsi Masisi have both indicated President Geingob was (BDF). www.echo.co.bw populace demanding answers confirmed that they have been in contact with President Masisi “The two Heads of state from their government. direct contact over the matter, and that the latter regretted the have expressed their full DISCLAIMER: This is not the first time the with a view to expeditiously loss of lives. “The two leaders commitment to resolve this Echo Newspaper welcomes concise letters from readers. two countries find themselves resolve the matter in an amicable agreed to a joint-investigation issue in an expeditious and Letters must carry the in a situation threatening their way. The statements from the in order to shed light and also amicable manner,” said Sesinyi. full name and address of relations, as about 21 years ago, two governments have called to bring closure to the family,” He said in the spirit of good the sender. Letters must the two were in a contention for calm. the statement read. neighborliness, Sesinyi said the conform to the laws of over the ownership of Sedudu But calm seems to be a far- Prior to engaging Masisi, two countries have agreed to Botswana and to the Press Council of Botswana’s Code Island, which was resolved at fetched desire in Namibia, as the Namibian ministry of undertake a joint investigation Of Ethics. Letters will also be the International Court of Justice some members of the public International affairs had with the view to determine and edited for length, libel and that awarded the wildlife rich staged a peaceful demonstration summoned Botswana’s High address the circumstances that language. island to Botswana. in capital Windhoek on Friday Commissioner to Namibia, Dr resulted in the incident. The Botswana Defence in which the petitioned Serema to express its regret and He further said Masisi appealed Force purports strongly that Botswana’s ambassador to grave concern over the killings. to the peoples of the two the deceased were poachers Namibia Dr Comma Serema. neighboring countries to remain and were in the Chobe River The demonstration was against “While I informed him that calm while investigations are (Botswana side) on the night what they termed a public the Namibia does not condone in process. they were killed. BDF has demonstration against the poaching, I strongly deplored Meanwhile some pundits have since indicated that they were killing of innocent residents of the extrajudicial killings by called for a speedy investigation carrying out their sovereign the Zambezi region by the BDF. the Botswana Defence Force on the matter, especially that duties of protecting the country They march was also said to (BDF) in their anti-poaching Namibians were becoming and its resources. They believe be ‘against acts of intimidation, drive. Bearing in mind that impatient and preaching Read more Echo that the four were part of a harassment, violence, terrorism the two governments signed violence against Batswana in stories on our poaching syndivcated that and killing of innocent residents the boundary treaty in 2018, their country. They further said Facebook page by terrorise Chobe wildlife. of Zambezi region by the soldiers I sought clarity from the high the area in which the killings The shooting by members of the Republic of Botswana.’ commissioner on whether were made remain very tense scanning the QR of the security organs in The demonstrators have given Botswana still maintained the and any contact between code below with Botswana is in line with the the Botswana government 7 shoot to kill as a government Batswana and Namibians may your mobile phone country’s shoot to kill policy, days to respond to the petition. policy as such a policy has have some undesired outcomes. in the fight against poaching Namibia’s Prime Minister potential to cause disharmony Some scenes of violence against of the country’s most revered and minister of Foreign Affairs between the two countries,” Botswana property and citizens resource of wildlife, particularly Netumbo Nandi- Ndaitwah, said Nandi- Ndaitwah. in Namibia were recorded over elephants and rhinos. in statement last week said the Botswana’s government the weekend. Following the incident, government learnt with dismay Spokesperson Andrew Sesinyi, The two countries both await and with increasing pressure about the shooting of the four in a statement concurred with the outcome of the investigation from the general public in Namibians. the Namibian minister that instituted by the two countries. Namibia, the issue has since The statement highlighted indeed his government through Echo Newspaper 16 Nov - 22 Nov 2020 Echo Report 3 4 Echo Report Echo Newspaper 16 Nov - 22 Nov 2020 “Following extensive engagement, the JSE has agreed to lift the suspension of the company’s shares and to recommence trading on the JSE from today, 13 November 2020,” the company said in a statement. The Botswana bourse lifted its suspension in July after the company published all its financials up to December 2019, bringing it into compliance with the stock exchange’s requirements. According to papers lodged in Gaborone’s high court in August and seen by Reuters, the retailer’s two biggest shareholders, CEO Ramachandran Ottapathu and executive director Ismail Farouk, sued PwC for 450 million pula ($40.14 million), saying that their former auditor’s failure to sign off the 2018 financial statement caused the share price crash. PwC has confirmed to Reuters that it was involved in legal proceedings with two Choppies’ directors and was defending the action but said it would not be Botswana retailer Choppies resumes appropriate to publicly comment further on the matter. As part of plans to consolidate its business, Choppies - Botswana’s biggest retailer - has since trading on South Africa exchange exited the South African and Mozambican markets. The company is also divesting its operations in Tanzania and Shares in Botswana’s budget led to a 24-month suspension. suspended from both the appointed external auditors Kenya, Ottapathu told Reuters in supermarket chain Choppies Choppies shares plunged by Botswana Stock Exchange and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) July, but will continue operating resumed trading on South Africa’s more than 60% in September the JSE, where it has a secondary raised concerns with the board in in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia Johannesburg stock exchange 2018 after it said it would delay listing. respect of accounting practices and Namibia. Reuters. (JSE) on Friday, after a failure publication of its financial The results were delayed for the year ended June 30, 2018 to publish its financial results statement, and were then after the company’s newly and prior years. are only now recovering from diseases, while the introduction the initial impact,” says Moeti. of new vaccines has been halted Even before the pandemic, and countries reporting running maternal mortality in sub- out of stocks. Saharan Africa was unacceptably “Now that countries are easing high, accounting for about two- their restrictions, it’s critical thirds of global maternal deaths that they implement catch-up in 2017, WHO says vaccination campaigns quickly. Preliminary findings indicate “The longer, large numbers that Covid-19 is likely to of children remain unprotected exacerbate women’s health against measles and other challenges, while skilled birth childhood diseases, the more attendance in the 14 countries likely we could see deadly dropped. outbreaks flaring up and claiming For instance, in Nigeria, more lives than Covid-19,” says 362,700 pregnant women missed Moeti.