Timeline Botswana
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History: http://www.africanet.com/countries/botswana.htm#HISTORY
Botswana is about the size of Texas. Gaborone is
the
capital.
(WSJ, 8/29/02, p.A1)(Econ, 3/29/08, p.62)
1830
A French taxidermist stuffed an African Bushman
from Botswana and took the body to Europe for exhibition. In 2000
the body was returned from a Spanish museum.
(WSJ, 10/5/00, p.A1)
1921 Jul 1, Seretse Khama, 1st
president of Botswana, was born.
(http://ubh.tripod.com/bw/skhama.htm)
1950 Laurence Marshall, a
former president of Raytheon, took his family to the bush land of
the Kalahari Desert in South Africa where they encountered the
native Bushmen. The area later became the border of Namibia and
Botswana. In 2006 his daughter Elizabeth Marshall Thomas authored
”The Old Way: A Story of the First People.”
(SSFC, 11/5/06, p.M3)
1966 Sep 30, The Republic of
Botswana, a Texas sized country, declared its independence from
Britain. Seretse Khama (1921-1980) began serving as the 1st
president of Botswana.
(SFC, 7/1/97, p.A9)(AP,
9/30/06)(http://ubh.tripod.com/bw/skhama.htm)
1967 Diamonds were discovered
in Botswana. It was later thought that the deposits would run out by
2030.
(Econ, 10/24/09, p.59)
1980 Apr 1, The southern
African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was established
by 9 countries with the Lusaka declaration (Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe).
The main aim was coordinating development projects in order to
lessen economic dependence on apartheid South Africa. On
August 17, 1992, it was transformed into the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). By 2008 it included 15 members.
(www.sadc.int/index/browse/page/52)
1980 Jul 13, Seretse Khama, 1st
president of Botswana, died. He made Botswana an increasingly
democratic and prosperous country with a significant role in
Southern Africa.
(http://ubh.tripod.com/bw/skhama.htm)
1985 Botswana recorded its 1st
AIDS case.
(WSJ, 8/29/02, p.A4)
1986 May 19, South African
commandos struck alleged ANC "operational centers" in Zimbabwe,
Botswana, Zambia.
(www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/southafrica.cfm)
1997 Jun 19, In Zimbabwe
delegates to the UN Convention on Int’l. Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) approved the applications by Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana
to sell an annual quota of their collective ivory stockpile, but
only to Japan. Trade in ivory was shut down in 1989 due to extensive
poaching.
(SFC, 6/20/97, p.A20)
1997 Jun 19, In Zimbabwe
delegates to the UN Convention on Int’l. Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) approved the applications by Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana
to sell an annual quota of their collective 55 tons of ivory
stockpile, but only to Japan. Trade in ivory was shut down in 1989
due to extensive poaching.
(SFC, 6/20/97, p.A20)(SFC, 4/18/00, p.A9)
1997 Nov 10, Pres. Sir Ketumile
Masire announced that he would retire Mar 31 after 18 years as
leader. He would be succeeded by Vice Pres. Festus Mogae.
(SFC,11/11/97, p.A14)
1997 The US Peace Corps left
Botswana after 30 years of aiding development. In 2002 the Peace
Corps returned to help with the AIDS program.
(WSJ, 8/29/02, p.A4)
1997-2006 Over 2,000 Bushmen and others moved out
of Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve and in return were given
livestock, a small plot of land and some money.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.47)
1998 Mar 29-1998 Mar 31, Pres.
Clinton visited Botswana and took 2 days off to explore the Chobe
National Park, home to 45,000 elephants and other species.
(SFC, 3/21/98, p.A13)(WSJ, 3/30/98, p.A1)
1998 Sep 21, In Lesotho
opposition protestors clashed with South African and Botswanan
troops at the royal palace. A faction of the Lesotho army rebelled
11 days ago and deposed the new military leadership. They charged
that the May elections swept by the Lesotho Congress party were
rigged.
(SFC, 9/22/98, p.A7)
1998 Oct 28, The life
expectancy was reported to have dropped from 61 in 1993 to 47 to the
AIDS epidemic.
(SFC, 10/28/98, p.A12)
1998 In Botswana Festus Mogae
came to power in succession to Sir Ketumile Masire.
(AFP, 7/15/07)
1999 May 6, Bristol-Myers
announced a plan to spend $100 million over the next 5 years in 5
southern African nations, that included Botswana, to fund AIDS
research trials.
(WSJ, 5/6/99, p.A1)(WSJ, 7/7/00, p.A1)
1999 Oct 18, In Botswana
election results showed the ruling Botswana Democratic Party of
Pres. Festus Mogae won 30 of 40 seats in the National Assembly.
(SFC, 10/19/99, p.A13)
2000 Feb 26, Heavy rains
continued to ravage South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
33 people were reported dead in the northern province of South
Africa and 29 dead in Zimbabwe.
(SFEC, 2/27/00, p.A22)
2001 Mar 7, Debswana,
Botswana’s diamond-mining giant, offered AIDS drug coverage for its
6,000 workers.
(WSJ, 3/8/00, p.A1)
2001 Jun 4, It was reported
that the AIDS HIV-infection rate was 38.5% of Botswana’s adult
population.
(SFC, 6/4/01, p.A10)
2002 Aug, The US Peace Corps
returned to Botswana to help with the AIDS crises. One-third of the
working population was infected.
(WSJ, 8/29/02, p.A4)
2002 Some of the former
dwellers of Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) took the
government to court, arguing that their relocation was illegal.
(Econ, 2/18/06, p.47)
2003 Jul 10, Pres. Bush met
with Pres. Festus Mogae in Botswana. Bush said that AIDS is "the
deadliest enemy Africa has ever faced" and pledged to the nation
with the world's highest AIDS infection rate that it would have a
strong partner in his administration in fighting the disease.
(SFC, 7/10/03, p.A8)(AP, 7/10/08)
2003 Aug 30, In Botswana a
former bank manager, draped in a ceremonial leopard skin, was
installed as the first female paramount chief. Mosadi Seboko took
over as the highest-ranking chief of the Balete people.
(AP, 8/30/03)
2003 Nov 8, The AIDS infection
rate in Botswana was reported to be 22% and that few people were
taking advantage of treatment programs.
(SFC, 11/8/03, p.A14)
2004 Nov 1, Botswana voters
gave the ruling Botswana Democratic Party 44 of parliament’s 57
seats. Pres. Festus Mogae promised to fight poverty and AIDS.
(Econ, 11/6/04, p.50)
2004 Eurostar, an Indian-owned
diamond cutting and trading company headquartered in Belgium, set up
diamond polishing and cutting operations in Botswana.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.74)
2005 Jun 28, Swedish truck and
bus maker Volvo AB said it will close an assembly plant in Botswana
and open a new factory in Durban, South Africa.
(AP, 6/28/05)
2006 Dec 13, Botswana's High
Court ruled that the country's Bushmen were entitled to live and
hunt on their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve,
in judgment hailed as victory for the hunters.
(AP, 12/13/06)
2006 Dec 14, Botswana's
government accepted a court order to allow the Bushmen, the nation's
last hunter-gatherers, to live on their ancestral lands. But at the
same time, officials imposed tough conditions likely to prevent most
or all from returning to the central Kalahari. In 2009 6 Bushmen
were convicted of illegally hunting gemsbok and eland in the Central
Kalahari Game Reserve, where no licenses have issued since 2001.
(AP, 12/14/06)(Econ, 8/8/09, p.44)
2006 Botswana’s population
numbered about 1.6 million.
(Econ, 7/28/07, p.47)
2007 Jun 2, The UN Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) decided to
permit a one-off sale of 60 tons of ivory from Botswana, Namibia and
South Africa to Japan, saying it would monitor closely the impact on
poaching and population levels.
(Reuters, 6/3/07)
2007 Jun 14, In the Netherlands
four African states (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe),
after an 18-year ban, were allowed to put their ivory stocks on the
market in a one-time sale as part of a hard-fought compromise
reached with other Africans who tried to block the sale. The
171-member Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,
or CITES, approved the deal by consensus.
(AP, 6/14/07)
2007 Jul 15, Botswana's
President Festus Mogae (67) announced that he is to stand down next
year after a decade at the helm of the diamond-rich southern African
nation.
(AFP, 7/15/07)
2007 Jul, Filming started on
the first international movie ever to be shot in Botswana, “The No.
1 Ladies' Detective Agency,” a movie based on Alexander McCall
Smith's hit book series of the same name.
(CSM, 8/1/07)(Econ, 7/28/07, p.47)
2008 Mar 18, In Botswana De
Beers and the government set up a Diamond Trading Company (DTC) as a
joint venture.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.74)
2008 Mar 22, The population of
Botswana numbered about 1.8 million.
(Econ, 3/22/08, p.74)
2008 Apr 1, In Botswana Seretse
Ian Khama (b.1953), the half-white son of Botswana’s first
president, was sworn in as president. Festus Mogae retired
after 10 years in office.
(www.voanews.com/english/2008-04-01-voa55.cfm?rss=politics)
2008 Jul 16, The United States
signed a pair of agreements to boost trade and investment ties with
countries in southern and eastern Africa. These included the Trade,
Investment and Development Cooperation Agreement with the Southern
Africa Customs Union (SACU), which includes Botswana, Lesotho,
Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland; and the Trade Investment and
Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the East African Community, which
includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
(Reuters, 7/17/08)
2008 Oct 20, Festus Gontebanye
Mogae, who led Botswana from 1998 to 2008, was chosen as the winner
of the 2008 Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
(AP, 10/20/08)
2008 Nov 26, South Africa's
health minister said Zimbabwe faced a humanitarian crisis after a
major outbreak of cholera, vowing not to turn away anyone who
crosses the border for treatment. Botswana's foreign minister said
Zimbabwe's neighbors should close their borders in an attempt to
bring down Pres. Robert Mugabe, in the strongest call yet for action
from Africa.
(AFP, 11/26/08)
2009 Mar 21, In Botswana
Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone opened a development
conference and warned that the global economic crisis would affect
Africa for at least two years.
(AP, 3/21/09)
2009 Mar 27, Southern African
countries (Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia) have been
hit by the worst floods in years, killing more than 100 people and
displacing thousands, as a tropical storm threatened to bring more
pain.
(AFP, 3/28/09)
2009 Apr 6, In Zambia western
nations and lending agencies meeting in Lusaka agreed a financing
package of more than $1 billion to improve infrastructure in
southern and central Africa at an investment conference meant to
expand transport links and trade. Britain said it would separately
provide 100 million pounds ($149.2 million) to transform the
region's infrastructure to increase trade and mitigate the effects
of the global financial crisis. New projects will link businesses in
8 African countries: Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.
(AP, 4/6/09)
2009 Oct 9, Japanese officials
said they have obtained rights to develop platinum mines in South
Africa and Botswana in a bid to ensure a stable supply of the metal.
The government-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp.
(JOGMEC) said it has signed a contract with Discovery Metals in
Australia to jointly develop nickel and platinum mines in northeast
Botswana. It has also inked another deal with Canadian firm Platinum
Group Metals to explore for platinum in South Africa.
(AFP, 10/9/09)
2009 Oct 16, Botswana held
parliamentary elections. On Oct 18 the independent electoral
commission announced that the governing party, which has been in
power for more than four decades, once again swept the elections.
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) won 45 out of the 57 seats. This
paved the way for legislators to select incumbent President Seretse
Ian Khama to continue as leader of the world's largest
diamond-producing country.
(AP, 10/18/09)
2009 Botswana’s population
stood at about 2 million.
(Econ, 10/24/09, p.59)
2009 James G. Workman authored
“Heart of Dryness: How the Last Bushmen Can Help Us Endure the
Coming Age of Permanent Drought.” The book includes a history of the
diamond industry in Botswana as well as the story of the Bushmen’s
resistance to the government’s efforts to drive them from their
traditional homes and ways.
(SSFC, 8/16/09, Books p.F7)
2010 Jan 6, Zimbabwe state
media reported that Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) has signed an eight
million dollar deal with Botswana to revive a shut-down thermal
power station and ease national blackouts.
(AFP, 1/6/10)
2010 Sep 1, A court in Botswana
charged former defense minister Ramadeluka Seretse for failing to
disclose his position as a shareholder in a company that was awarded
a government contract. Seretse, a cousin of President Seretse Ian
Khama, resigned Aug 30 after months of corruption allegations from
opposition parties.
(AP, 9/1/10)
2010 Oct 30, In China
Alexandria Mills, a soft-spoken 18-year-old from Louisville,
Kentucky, was named the winner in the 60th Miss World Competition,
held on Hainan Island. Second place went to Emma Wareus of Botswana,
and Adriana Vasini of Venezuela came third.
(AP, 10/31/10)
2011 Jan 27, An appeals court
in Botswana ruled that indigenous dwellers in one of the driest
parts of the world can now drill wells for water, overturning an
earlier decision that denied them access.
(AP, 1/27/11)
2011 Apr 18, Botswana public
sector workers went on strike demanding a 16% pay raise after a
3-year wage freeze. The government proceeded to fire 1,400 striking
health care workers including some 50 doctors. After 8 weeks public
workers settled for three percent after the government insisted it
could not afford a larger increase.
(Econ, 6/11/11, p.55)(AFP, 7/7/11)
2011 Jun 27, A Botswana's
Bushmen spokesman said Bushmen plan to boycott the country's
upcoming census in protest at the government's refusal to provide
them with a polling station during the last election. Some 100,000
Bushmen remained in southern Africa, spread across Botswana, Namibia
and South Africa.
(AP, 6/28/11)
2011 Sep 23, A Botswana
official said labor unions have asked a court to force the
government to reinstate nearly 2,600 public services workers fired
during the country's first national strike in April.
(AFP, 9/23/11)
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