Oduetse Koboto

"Elephants in the northern part of the country are targeted by cross border poachers who are armed with weapons of war and who do not hesitate to engage our security forces to achieve their criminal objectives."

"Instead they make use of members of our communities to do the dirty work on their behalf for amounts of money that are a mere fraction of the billions of Pula that they ultimately reap from the illegal trade."

"The meeting referred to was for implementation of land board decision in which all affected parties were invited. Please note that Dikepo is not an affected party since she is not yet the legal owner of the tshimo because she is yet to buy it but he was invited to a meeting of 24 November 2020 to witness how the Ngwato Land board decision for opening access road is being implemented."

"Botswana has a successive history for conservation, it still remains a success story in conservation, it’s easier for Botswana as it it attracts people that are conversant with bio-diversityHe said it is vital because as soon as the policy is espoused there will be obligations."

"We know how difficult it is to coordinate on a continental level, because of the divergence of national interests … so we may not be able to influence the way we want … Learning from each other is one thing we need to strengthen to achieve impact on scale."

"We are stronger together and processes identifying Africa’s priorities in a summit like this one … once we have done this it is easier to identify our communalities … positions …. [and] coordination becomes seamless."

"Ngwato Land board listened to the matter on the 28 August following the interim judgment of the court. The matter before the court involved opening of the servitude that Dikepo blocked while Land board and the court granted interim judgement that the servitude should remain open until the matter is disposed off by the land board."

"The only thing awaited from Court is the final judgement on the opening of the access road following the interim judgment I already talked (of) which has now been overtaken by events since Land board had made a determination on the matter and the judgment was an interim order pending the determination of the issue by Land board."

"There will be no reason for me to inform the land board of a decision they of a process they were party to. Their lawyer s are the once that advice (sic) them on the outcome of the matter from court and not me."

"The situation is slowly improving …. We are seeing more and more coordination mechanisms, such as the Africa Group of Negotiators. Not all MEA‘s have the structures, but for those that have we have seen progress."