Thought you might be interested in a case that has taken three years (2004 - 2006) to conclude. It occupied the best part of BTV programmes yesterday (9am to around 7pm). The Basarwa (so-called Bushmen) won their case against the Government of Botswana. The Basarwa were contesting their removal from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Three judges (Dibotelo Maruping, Unity Dhow, and M.Phumaphi) ruled (two to one) in favor of the Basarwa. The dissenting opinion that favoured government was that of Justice Dibotelo Maruping.
Our twenty-first century hunter-gatherers may now go back to the game reserve to do what they do best; hunt for their livelihood with cell- phones in their hands! They may claim compensation for the inconvenience of being removed from the CKGR and such claims would have to come before a judge.
The schools and residences that government has built for the Basarwa outside the CKGR are modern and beautiful. The little boys and girls that one sees in the new schools are strikingly beautiful and well taken care of.
However, as we say in ChiNyanja, "Kwanu nkwanu mthengo mdalaka njoka."
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"Gimme the weed and i will get high for i have not failed but discovered ways that just dont work"