Botswana dedicated to resolve human wildlife conflict - President Masisi
Gaborone, Botswana (PANA) - Botswana President, Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi, has asserted government’s determination to resolve human wildlife conflict in favor of protecting Batswana (citizens of Botswana).
Speaking at one of his national consultative meetings in Gumare on Saturday, President Masisi assured Batswanas that, based on consultations made prior this year, government would continue to implement measures aimed at protecting Batswana and ensuring benefit from crop produce.
Gumare is a rural village located in the North-West District of Botswana, near the Okavango Delta, 1,004.7 kilometers from the capital city of Gaborone.
When given an opportunity to ask the President questions, Gumare residents decried harassment from wildlife, especially elephants. They said elephants destroy crops and fields leaving them empty handed in a drought season.
Top of the list was the ‘horrifying human deaths caused by wildlife, lamented Chief Moitshepi Molelwa.
The President said in the government’s bid to curb increasing numbers of elephants by lifting the hunting ban, there was uproar from some organisations and individuals. He, however, committed to continue with programmes that will assist in the drought season such as Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD) and Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID) as Batswana’s livelihood is priority.
-0- PANA MS/VAO 5Oct2019
