• Banks in P90.79 billion household debtSeptember 13, 2025
    -           P39 billion of the credit is unsecure -           UK research firm forecasts escalating credit in the household sector RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal rights STAFF WRITER The household… Read more: Banks in P90.79 billion household debt
  • 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll inSeptember 13, 2025
    This morning (12.09.25), the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) hosted the Hemp Innovations Europe (HIE) AB Memorandum of Understanding Handshake Ceremony. The MOU signing is in partnership with The Office of the President, Botswana University of Agriculture and… Read more: 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in
  • Basarwa demand equal rightsSeptember 13, 2025
    KITSO RAMONO editors@thepatriot.co.bw RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal rights   The Basarwa community has called on government to grant them full recognition under Botswana’s laws, insisting that they deserve… Read more: Basarwa demand equal rights
  • Bank of Botswana Celebrate 50 YearsSeptember 13, 2025
    Unveils new P50 banknote in commemoration   GORATAONE KGOSIMORE RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal rights editors@thepatriot.co.bw   Botswana’s central bank, the Bank of Botswana celebrated 50 years of existence,… Read more: Bank of Botswana Celebrate 50 Years
  • UDC in BDP deep stateSeptember 13, 2025
    Boko's wounded healer strategy recycles BDP cronies into govt Pilane's CoA appointment re-opens old wounds BDP denies ever politicizing public service   BAKANG TIRO RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal… Read more: UDC in BDP deep state
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Analysis & Opinions
  • Vacancies & Tenders
  • Login
  • Register
Sunday, September 14, 2025
The Patriot On Sunday
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Analysis & Opinions
  • Vacancies & Tenders
No Result
View All Result
Cart / $0.00

No products in the cart.

  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Analysis & Opinions
  • Vacancies & Tenders
No Result
View All Result
The Patriot On Sunday
No Result
View All Result

‘Mokaila worse than Tshekedi’ – Tour guides

patriot by patriot
December 31, 2020
in News
0

President Mokgweetsi Masisi’s latest Cabinet reshuffle brought with it changes which some observers say were inevitable. One such is the deployment of Serowe North Member of Parliament Tshekedi Khama from the Environment, Natural Resources, Conservation and Tourism to the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development.

Khama has since been replaced by specially elected MP Kitso Mokaila who has been transferred from the Ministry of Transport and Communications. While the move has been received with pomp and ceremony from some quarters, especially because there has been debate that Khama and his elder brother, the former president Ian Khama have big tourism business interests and were running the ministry’s operations to favour their interests some observers feel the latest reshuffle is in fact insignificant, that Mokaila and Khama are birds of the same feather whose modus operandi is almost similar.

RelatedPosts

Basarwa demand equal rights

UDC in BDP deep state

2025 China Victory Day Message: Choose peace

 In fact Mokaila is not a stranger to the position. He was in the former president’s inner circle and was appointed the Minister of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism by the former, a move which some observers says showed the amount of trust he had in him as this was one of his key ministries. He served in the position for about eight years.

How he fared?

Mention the name Mokaila, especially in the northern parts of the country where tourism is big business then you are bound to hear it all.

The Chairman of Botswana Guides Association (BOGA), Kenson Kgaga, described Masisi’s move to appoint back Mokaila to the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism as a big failure and disappointment. “Masisi knows very well that Mokaila was removed from the ministry because he was killing the industry and we as the communities residing in the tourism areas were not happy of how he was running the ministry and how he continuous disregarded and disrespected us on daily basis,” said Kgaga.

He added that during his tenure as the Minister, Mokaila made it clear that he was not going to take heed of any advice and recommendations from locals and ran the ministry with an iron fist, making uninformed decisions that largely disadvantaged operators especially small scale operators into mobile safari business who are mostly Batswana. “At some point mobile safaris were banned from conducting game drives in the morning, we fought against such a policy but our complaints were ignored by the minister. He also failed to attend to roads in the Moremi Game Reserve,” Kgaga said.

He explained that in fact  Mokaila’s working relationships with operators in the tourism industry and local communities suffered so bad that the parliamentary portfolio committee on Tourism had to be called to Maun about three times to intervene and in all this  cases Mokaila’s indifference to grievances  raised was  evident.

According to Kgaga in days leading to Mokaila’s removal from the ministry, he was personally summoned to brief the parliamentary portfolio committee in Gaborone about what Mokaila was doing to the industry and it became apparent then that he had to go. He said some of Mokaila’s bad policies had to be reversed by his successor Tshekedi Khama. “Even Tshekedi couldn’t understand the logic behind some of the decisions taken by Mokaila,” claimed Kgaga.

Although he acknowledged that Khama just as Mokaila was in his view of no difference, and that the decision to boot him out of the ministry was long overdue, Kgaga was of the view that Masisi could have replaced the latter with somebody else. Chobe MP Machana Shamukuni and Okavango MP Bagalatia Arone are some of the names he said would have been more suitable. “Mokaila has been tried and tested and he failed dismally, we really don’t expect much of a difference from him,” he said.

Mokaila vs Tshekedi

While Khama has had to bear the brunt of implementing some of the most unpopular tourism policies, the fact of the matter  is  most of the changes  were in fact  initiated   under Mokaila’s tenure in office. They include; the controversial hunting ban, the tourism land bank, centralization of CBNRM to mention but a few.

Government introduced the Tourism Land Bank, whereby all prime tourism concession areas in Botswana including the Okavango Delta were transferred from Tawana Land Board (TLB) to MLH through a ministerial directive to create what came to be known as the tourism land bank.

In his academic paper titled: “Tourism in a Shadow State Environment: the case of the Okavango Delta” Professor Joseph Mbaiwa of the  Okavango Research Institute has described the setup of the tourism land bank as a ploy by politicians and their business cronies to control prime tourism land in the Okavango Delta

Although it was initiated under Mokaila’s time in office, the Tourism Land Bank was finally implemented by Khama, following a government directive of 2014 which transferred the lands to MLH and BTO.

He however can be credited for playing a critical role in advancing Botswana’s tourism interests especially regionally. It is under Mokaila’s tenure that the cornerstone of the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) was finally put on paper and all five partner countries being the governments of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to negotiate and work towards its establishment.

The goal of the KAZA TFCA is “To sustainably manage the Kavango Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources based on best conservation and tourism models for the socio-economic wellbeing of the communities and other stakeholders in and around the eco-region through harmonization of policies, strategies and practices.

The KAZA TFCA process evolved from two initiatives namely, the Okavango Upper Zambezi International Tourism Initiative (OUZIT) and the “Four Corners” Trans boundary Natural Resource Management initiative. However, unlike its predecessors, the KAZA TFCA initiative is owned and led by the governments of the five partner countries, with a clear focus on conservation as the primary form of land use and tourism being a by-product thereof.

Botswana hosts  KAZA TFCA secretariat and as the Minister of Wildlife, natural resources and tourism, Mokaila was at  the fore  front of all activities to do with the regional agreement .    

Tags: MOKAILATshekedi
Previous Post

Neo Masisi inspires Women

Next Post

Back into your job

Related Posts

Basarwa demand equal rights
News

Basarwa demand equal rights

September 13, 2025
UDC in BDP deep state
News

UDC in BDP deep state

September 13, 2025
2025 China Victory Day Message: Choose peace
News

2025 China Victory Day Message: Choose peace

September 12, 2025
Debswana completes refurbishment of Camphill Trust project
News

Debswana completes refurbishment of Camphill Trust project

September 11, 2025
KHAMA IV INITIATIVES SPARK TRIBAL TENSIONS
News

KHAMA IV INITIATIVES SPARK TRIBAL TENSIONS

September 11, 2025
The Mogaes fight over boswa
News

The Mogaes fight over boswa

September 8, 2025
Next Post
Back into your job

Back into your job

Please login to join discussion
  • Banks in P90.79 billion household debtSeptember 13, 2025
    -           P39 billion of the credit is unsecure -           UK research firm forecasts escalating credit in the household sector RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal rights STAFF WRITER The household… Read more: Banks in P90.79 billion household debt
  • 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll inSeptember 13, 2025
    This morning (12.09.25), the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) hosted the Hemp Innovations Europe (HIE) AB Memorandum of Understanding Handshake Ceremony. The MOU signing is in partnership with The Office of the President, Botswana University of Agriculture and… Read more: 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in
  • Basarwa demand equal rightsSeptember 13, 2025
    KITSO RAMONO editors@thepatriot.co.bw RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal rights   The Basarwa community has called on government to grant them full recognition under Botswana’s laws, insisting that they deserve… Read more: Basarwa demand equal rights
  • Bank of Botswana Celebrate 50 YearsSeptember 13, 2025
    Unveils new P50 banknote in commemoration   GORATAONE KGOSIMORE RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal rights editors@thepatriot.co.bw   Botswana’s central bank, the Bank of Botswana celebrated 50 years of existence,… Read more: Bank of Botswana Celebrate 50 Years
  • UDC in BDP deep stateSeptember 13, 2025
    Boko's wounded healer strategy recycles BDP cronies into govt Pilane's CoA appointment re-opens old wounds BDP denies ever politicizing public service   BAKANG TIRO RelatedPosts Banks in P90.79 billion household debt 𝐇𝐞𝐦𝐩 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 d𝐞𝐚𝐥s roll in Basarwa demand equal… Read more: UDC in BDP deep state
The Patriot On Sunday

© 2024 Copyright The Patriot On Sunday - Inspired by Search Mart.

Navigate Site

  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • Cart
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Analysis & Opinions
  • Vacancies & Tenders

© 2024 Copyright The Patriot On Sunday - Inspired by Search Mart.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?