Khama strikes again
Former President Lt. Gen Dr Ian Khama has embarked on a smear campaign against Botswana’s conservation efforts that will take him to England, parts of Western Europe and Estonia.
Khama’s move counters all efforts made by Botswana last year to convince the House of the Lords to shoot down the approval and passing of the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill.
Khama has targeted to meet influential people such as members of the British House of Commons, the Conservation Party, the Labour Peer in the House of Lords, and other eminent legislators from across the British political divide, according to a statement released by the Khama Foundation.
Interestingly Khama embarked on his trip just under 14 days after President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi and a renowned Maun-based conservationist and Advocate for Community Based Conservation, also Owner of Mochaba
Trophy Dealer Company, Debbie Peake of the Conservation Coalition Botswana had a chat with the Editors of different publications that visited her factory after the fourth session of Botswana-Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission in Maun.
Masisi commended the country’s endeavour aimed at advancing conservation and wildlife management, while also urging the global community to acknowledge Botswana's ongoing dedication to these causes and provide further encouragement for its contributions.
Botswana enjoys the support of the House of Lords who last June shot the motion calling for the approval of the Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill. The Bill was introduced as a Private Member’s Bill by Conservative MP Henry Smith seeking to prohibit the import of endangered species as hunting trophies into Great Britain, helping to reduce the threats the species face.
In that meeting Peake said there is a big lobby that is gathering momentum against the country and is being fronted and funded by an NGO in the UK called the Campaign Against the Trophy Hunting.
She said: “It’s a fact where we got high profile people working against our own policies. That is a difficult thing to manage. That is not easy he calls professional hunters an endangered species.”
Peake said the important thing is to expose the world to what happens in Botswana, which has the biggest population of elephants in the world as well as other game, further noting that the campaign is very damaging for the whole of SADC region.
For his part, President Masisi said that the Khama family has always been advocating for the Trophy Bill. He said that former president Khama and his brother, the former Minister of Environment, Tshekedi Khama, secretly tried to nudge uplifting elephants to Appendix 1 of CITES without having consulted the delegation of community representatives from these hunting areas.
“The Dikgosi from those areas were very upset with Tshekedi Khama,” Masisi said, adding that he confronted former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyata towards the end of his term about what he termed “a not so clever move’’ to burn a pile of ivory, which is supposed to bring him money.
On Wednesday the Chief Executive Officer of the Khama Foundation, Mogomotsi Kaboeamodimo sent a press release stating that Khama is in the United Kingdom for a working visit that will take him further into Eastern Europe. In London Khama is expected to be hosted by several members of the British House of Commons in their quest to persuade the British government to adopt and enact into law a Bill to ban Trophy hunting, the context of promoting animal welfare.
His schedule also includes a one- on- one meetings with legislators from the ruling conservative Party, the opposition Liberal Democrats, as well as the British Labour Party.
The statement said he will also travel to Estonia in Eastern Europe at the invitation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian parliament where he will participate in a peace conference and meet the prime minister, spend a day with Armed Forces and attend the Estonian National Day Celebration.
In response to the press release, Debbie Peake released a statement on behalf of the Botswana Wildlife Producers Association, stating that bans on the import of hunting trophies into the UK, supported by former President Ian Khama and some members of the UK Parliament, will have a direct and negative impact on Botswana's conservation policies. She stated that bans are damaging to livelihoods of community people living with wildlife.
'This will hurt our community programme - it’s difficult to understand why our former President would support an initiative that hurts his people. The proposed ban is misinformed, with no scientific background, and does nothing to recognise the role that African people play in conserving huge tracts of wildlife estate - especially in southern Africa. The public should be warned that these bans have far reaching and devastating effects on wildlife and people.'
Efforts to solicit a comment from the Department Wildlife were not successful at press time.