Africa-Press – Botswana. Government’s push for an inclusive economy seeks to put Batswana in good stead to generate wealth for themselves through partaking in income-generating undertakings of their choice within the different sectors and components of the economy.
An array of initiatives have been instituted to realise this progressive dream, the latest of which, in the livestock sector, is the Thuo Letlotlo programme; a programme in sync with the nation’s reverence for cattle farming, in particular.
The long-held belief that Kgomo ke banka ya Motswana, encapsulates the citizen’s deep-seated respect for cattle farming as the heartbeat of the economy of many households.
However, while not entirely foreign for any worthy pursuit to encounter challenges, the unprecedented rise in incidents of stock-theft in the past decade shook to the core Motswana’s reliance on livestock for survival, threatening the very future of the livestock sector itself.
At the height of the nation’s incessant pleas for government to intervene, the Botswana Police Service (BPS) responded by setting up Operation KgomoKhumo in 2018, waging a spirited fight against livestock rustlers, which continues to date.
Just a fortnight ago, the BPS issued a call to Batswana to help identify 71 cattle in Sesung suspected to have been stolen in Southern and Kweneng districts.
According to Assistant Superintendent Selebatso Mooketsi, who heads the eighth instalment of Operation KgomoKhumo, 49 cattle had been identified as at June 27, and 14 suspects, a female and 13 males have been arrested.
While they await the identification of the remaining 22 cattle, the police also have another batch of 12 cattle kraaled at the Takatokwane police exhibit kraal that need to be identified.
“We also have 12 cattle comprising 10 calves and two adult cows at the Takatokwane police exhibit kraal that we appeal to the public to come and view.
These cattle are suspected to have been stolen at the Masope and Satse cattle posts in the Maboane area,” she says.
The Sesung and Takatokwane batches totalling 83 cattle bring the statistics to a cumulative 241 livestock involved since Operation KgomoKhumo 8 started on April 22.
Titled, KgomoKhumo 8 Statistics 22/04/2023 – 23/06/2024 a BPS summary of the activities of the operation pegs at P763 150 the total value of livestock involved and sets at 149 the total number of persons arrested, with males leading at 140 and females standing at nine.
Despite the worrying statistics the BPS is happy with the progress it has made over time in containing stock-theft and attributes their success largely to the collaboration of farmers themselves and dikgosi across the country.
“Batswana truly appreciate Operation KgomoKhumo. Dikgosi throughout the country help facilitate and they fully support the kgotla meetings that we hold in their localities. We have also seen several new farmers committees come into being after our interaction with communities” ASP Mooketsi says.
In the same breath, she hails the Departments of Public Health and Veterinary Services for aiding the work of Operation KgomoKhumo by promptly availing their services whenever the police require them.
As the war against stock-theft rages on, the police are cautioning members of the livestock farming community against farming ‘remotely,’ and attribute some incidents of livestock theft to farmers not keeping a close eye on their farming operations.
Closing this loophole, the police believe, will make livestock rustling a difficult undertaking for those involved in it, and will help ensure that Batswana draw the maximum benefits out of their animals.
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