First, I must accept that being a minister or not is the prerogative o — Patrick Ralotsia

"Over the years the Francistown plant has failed to make any significant contribution to the economy but instead it has been draining the government P35 million per annum. Above this there were also expenses of salaries of 195 employees. All these years the plant has been operational, and it was running at a loss. Therefore, it has to be noted that the decision to shut down the Francistown BMC was not done in bad faith because it was practically impossible to operate it. The decision was not to punish anyone but to save the public funds from going down the drain consistently."

"The government cannot build a multi-million facility and just leave it to cease operations permanently. We are currently trying to engage with farmers and different stakeholders on how the plant can be brought back to life and contribute to the economy. We no longer want to experience what has been happening with daily targets of cattle stock. Mind you the throughput of the plant is 380 per day but there were instances when it will go for two months without slaughtering due to failure by farmers to bring cattle."

"There are cabinet ministers who want to deal in industrial hemp. To the best of my knowledge I know that they support the legalization of industrial hemp."

"When I leased my farm to them, they told me they were into horticulture. They said they also would like to do production of industrial hemp, but in the course of time. I told them that in as much as they would like to do that, it should be in order and we do the necessary consultations with all relevant stakeholders and ministries because industrial hemp is apparently somewhat associated with Motokwane (marijuana)."

"We did that. There is a committee working on that. I think out of excitement Fresh Standards wanted to experiment with the plant in relation to Botswana’s environment. I did not know they planted it. I trusted that they would stick to my instruction."

"I learnt that they had planted 32 plants, when arriving from Gaborone. My employees had been taken by the police for questioning. One of the officials of the company was also present there."