Sunday Standard Molokomme caught up in US, China trade war again Former Attorney General Athaliah Molokomme has been caught up in a trade war between the United States and China. Molokomme who is currently Botswana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador to Switzerland was recently appointed by World Trade Organization Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to lead a three-person panel to hear China’s complaint that electric vehicles subsidies and other incentives provided under the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act violate global trade rules. .ihc-locker-wrap{} There’s more to this story But to keep reading, we need you to subscribe. Investigative journalism is an indispensable part of a healthy society, but it’s also expensive to produce. We are reliant on subscriptions to fund our work, and while you can enjoy most of our stories for free, a small number of premium features are reserved for subscribers. You can subscribe for one...

The Broadhurst Magistrate Court today (January 21st) granted an urgent application by the immediate family of 21-year-old Oratile Sewawa to stop his burial, amid allegations of foul play in his mysterious death. Oratile passed away in Moshupa on January 14th after complaining of hunger the previous night. He was found the next morning in a disturbing state, covered in blood with foamy liquid coming from his mouth. A post-mortem failed to reveal any illness or abnormalities in his organs but suggested signs consistent with poison ingestion. The application to halt the burial was led by Oratile’s mother and younger sister, Penah Sewawa, who suspect that Oratile was intentionally poisoned. They claim the poisoning is linked to Oratile’s grandfather, who was living with him at the time and is leading the funeral arrangements. She further alleged that Oratile’s grandfather may have been keeping poison in the house. “Oratile didn’t leave the...

Sunday Standard Boko caught between China and America Hardly three months in office, President Duma Boko finds himself entangled an uncomfortable diplomatic love tri-angle with archrivals, China and the United States of America. The United States government has already put together a blueprint to counter China and Russia’s influence in Botswana. The American Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) for Botswana has highlighted Washington’s fears of a surge in China and Russia’s influence in Botswana. .ihc-locker-wrap{} There’s more to this story But to keep reading, we need you to subscribe. Investigative journalism is an indispensable part of a healthy society, but it’s also expensive to produce. We are reliant on subscriptions to fund our work, and while you can enjoy most of our stories for free, a small number of premium features are reserved for subscribers. You can subscribe for one week, a month or a full year – the choice is...

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or so the old saying goes. A young couple from Francistown are hoping this proves true as they attempt to build themselves a better life, one plastic brick at a time. Unemployed, with two children depending on them, 23-year-old Gosaitse Unoda Khura and her boyfriend, Tumelo Busang, 21, were struggling to get by, unsure how they would support their kids. The answer came to them as they were flicking mindlessly through their phones at their rented Monarch home one cold winter’s morning last June. During their online ramblings, they stumbled upon a video of a man making chairs from old bits of recycled plastics. “My boyfriend, who is also the father to my two kids, suggested we do something similar and use this concept to make bricks. I realised I’d never seen or heard of plastic bricks in Botswana. I fell in love...

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A Tonota man accused of killing a disabled child has pleaded with the court to be released from custody so he can raise money to engage an attorney. He made the plea this morning before a Francistown Magistrates Court when he appeared for the second time since the horrific incident. Modisaotsile Peter, 36, was charged with the murder of Loreatta Entle Mongwa, 8, who was found hanging from the rafters of her mother’s house at Manyanda ward on December 27, 2024. “I have livestock that I want to sell to raise money so that I can be able to engage a lawyer,” he said with a face showing no sign of remorse. He also asked the court why he was furnished with the charge sheet on his first court appearance when the investigations are still ongoing. His plea for bail was quashed as the investigations continue. As for the charge...

Sunday Standard Botswana faces HIV resistance crisis in national ART Program Botswana’s ambitious fight against HIV is facing a significant challenge as new findings reveal that nearly one-third of people living with HIV (PLWH) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with detectable viraemia in the national program have developed drug resistance mutations (DRMs). The study which was conducted within the Botswana National ART Program highlights a concerning prevalence of resistance to nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) despite the latter being less commonly used in current ART regimens. While resistance to dolutegravir, a commonly used integrase inhibitor in Botswana, remains low, medical experts are calling for a review of treatment protocols. .ihc-locker-wrap{} There’s more to this story But to keep reading, we need you to subscribe. Investigative journalism is an indispensable part of a healthy society, but it’s also expensive to produce. We are reliant on subscriptions...

Drunken row leads to wrestling knockout A New Year’s drink at a local sheeben in Nata took a terrible turn for two quarreling lovebirds over the festive holidays, resulting in a drunken wrestling match with fatal consequences. In a move that would not have been out of place in a WWE wrestling ring, Kopelo Mokaloba, 58, is said to have picked up his girlfriend, Kelebogile Khatso, and deliberately dropped her on her head. The 59-year-old never regained consciousness after the sickening blow and was declared dead on arrival at Nata Clinic. The tragedy took place in the middle of the day on January 2nd, with startled revellers watching on in disbelief. Charged with murder, Mokaloba, who is from Kachikau ward, appeared before Francistown Magistrates Court this Tuesday. Despite the seriousness of the charges against him, sporting scratches and bruises to his face, Mokaloba appeared relaxed, smiling often during his brief...

Sunday Standard MP wants expat tourists to make ‘all’ payments locally During his brief stint as a backbencher, then Mmadinare MP and future Vice President, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, chaired the Sessional Select Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade and Security. Ahead of a field trip to the Okavango Delta, the Committee’s secretary, a National Assembly staffer, called a Maun telephone number listed for a certain lodge that Committee members planned to stay at. However, the person who answered the call redirected the secretary to a booking agency in South Africa. This was standard practice: guests who wished to stay at this lodge, which is located in Botswana, were required to call a Johannesburg office in order to book accommodation as well as make payment into a South African bank account that the office provided. .ihc-locker-wrap{} There’s more to this story But to keep reading, we need you to subscribe. Investigative journalism is...

Maun Police have appealed to the public to help find a mystery motorist who knocked down and killed a 23-year-old local woman in a hit-and-run in the tourist town on Christmas Day. In a brief interview with The Voice, Maun Acting Station Commander, Michael Bagayi revealed the young lady’s motionless body was found lying by the side of Sedie Road in the late hours of December 25. Initially the cops were unsure what killed her. “We received a report of a body lying by the roadside. The deceased had injuries on her body and no one knew what could have happened to her. It was unclear whether she was pushed out of a moving vehicle or was killed and dumped by the roadside,” explained the police boss. However, Bagayi stressed the post-mortem confirmed she was struck by a car. “Someone lost their life; no arrests have been made so far....