WILD BW: WESTERN ANSLUGHT, IT’S NOT ABOUT ELEPHANTS, IT’S ABOUT OUR RIGHT TO BE
Oshinka Tsiang.
Do not for a moment think that the hullabaloo by the Western media, led by that paragon of journalistic virtue called the BBC (just ask Donald Trump), over the decision by the Botswana government to provide game meat for the Independence Day celebrations has anything to do with conservation or tourism. It’s not. It is the coloniser showing his hand, and it will not relent. It comes from a very deep disdain for us Batswana and,, to a large extent the African. It comes from the same spirit that made white men to meet in Berlin from November 1884 to February 1885 to carve out Africa for themselves. Their descendants are just continuing the infamy and the clearer we understand this, the better we will be for it. The irony is that the vitriol is happening at a time when we are celebrating independence. Supposedly a time when colonialism was coming to an end. This noise is a stark reminder that the empire never really ended. It just abandoned the costly part of administrative responsibility. But in reality, the economic and psychological squeeze never ended. For sixty years the illusion of self -determination has been well and truly sustained. It kind of reminds me of a famous song by the old Botswana National Front cadre during the time of the late Dr Kenneth Koma when they used to ridicule the then ruling Botswana Democratic Party. The lyrics of the song were to the effect that England was still ruling Botswana, hiding behind the back of the BDP.
The noise over the elephants, and curiously sans other species included in the Ministry’s quota, is a systematic psychological operation on Batswana. It is intended to ramp up the pressure on Botswana to back off from what these folks consider to be their animals. This is operation ban hunting in Botswana in motion.
They needed local accomplices to justify the onslaught. For years they did not have such proxies. Now they have, in the likes of Oaitse Nawa of the Elephant Protection Society (which by the way is not even registered with the Registrar of Societies) and more importantly, former President Lt. General Seretse Khama Ian Khama. This has emboldened these so called animal rights groups. They scream that there is local outrage to what they describe as the slaughter of elephants for independence celebrations. The language is meant to be as emotive as possible. The intent is to split us so that they can rally international pressure against Botswana, including a likely call to boycott Botswana tourism. Believe me that is not unlikely.
The fact that they are now using their big guns, in the form of the BBC and its ilk, is a testimony of how just far advanced with operation ban hunting in Botswana they are. The noise over the elephants is only a smokescreen. It’s a shot across the bow to manufacture local pressure. Internationally, they have already succeeded in getting France to suspend importation of hunting trophies. The rest of Europe will follow. This column has highlighted before how they have rallied their celebrities and political and religious icons to call for a UN ban on trophy hunting. In the US they are having trouble convincing the Americans because the Trump administration will have none of that. So they are biding their time hoping for an anti-Trump outcome in the mid-term elections. These are the same people who work tirelessly to maintain a ban on ivory trade. And according to a former Minister of Environment of Namibia, they are part of the network connected to poaching and illegal trade in ivory. These are the networks that thrive on instability, backwardness and perpetual underdevelopment of Africa. When confronted with resistance, they eliminate descent, literally. They will stop at nothing to get their way. They are not interested in the conservation science, nor are they interested in people’s livelihoods. We can scream all we like about human wildlife conflict, about the carrying capacity, about the ecological impact of the number of elephants, about the dangers to other species, about even our sovereign right to sustainable use. They simply do not care. The tragedy is that even our local mainstream media are falling for it. They have become unwitting echo chambers for this clearly subversive narrative. The unsubstantiated claim is that the killing of elephants will keep away tourists. Really? Everybody knows that the bulk of the animals being taken out are not in the protected areas. They are mainly in the controlled hunting areas and farming areas where they pose a risk to human life.
Oh by the way, it does not take much to notice that the loudest critics are heavily invested in the eco-tourism. They are the biggest players in the most lucrative wilderness spaces on earth. Not just in Africa. And the profits do not accrue to these spaces. Most payments for services are done outside the continent and profits go into tax havens and off shore accounts. These are not leakages. This is by design. They control the marketing, they control the businesses, they control the land and now they want to control the stock in trade-the wildlife. The only problem is that we happen to be in the way. Of course they will call us conspiratorial when we highlight these issues. It’s a thought termination tactic to curtail scrutiny. But we must not give up.
What we can do is exactly what I have seen Batswana’s reaction to this so called outrage. Batswana across the social media sphere have been unequivocal against what they see as an affront on their sovereignty and their right to use their animals as they see fit. If we choose to eat elephant meat or snakes, or phane or even kgwathe, why should we have to apologise? Batswana have been outright in their condemnation of the noise from people who are, as Chinua Achebe would put it, “outsiders who cry louder than the bereaved.” The response by Minister Wynter Mmolotsi to General Khama’s condemnation of the offer of elephant meat to Bangwato is the right step. We all know that the former President will not be deterred. But we need to rally behind the government in enforcing our sovereign right to use our elephants and all other species in the best way we know how. We are not savages as they would want to portray us.
The reality is that elephants are not an endangered species in Botswana. Quite the contrary. They are an endangering species. CITES, the body that regulates international trade on endangered species is well aware of that and is more than happy with our conservation success. So the noise over elephants is just based on sentiments with no scientific base. Batswana should continue to resist this. They should also inform themselves about the real issues behind this attack. And above all, remain united. No breaking of rank. As for those who choose to align with the foreign interests to undermine Botswana, they will have to search deep in their souls to ask themselves this one question, “is it about us or the animals?” They must tell us why we never hear so much as a squeak from the global media when our compatriots are terrorised by wild life. Evidently we do not matter. We are well aware that while the noise continues to rage, there is serious moves behind the scenes to effect policy change. This is where local NGOs, the media, intellectuals, the traditional leaders, the youth, and the politicians must be vigilant to defend our stance. We can no longer tippy toe around this issue. The gloves are well and truly off. This is the only way we can defend our independence.
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