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SCIENCE LECTURERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT WRITING ERRORS IN STUDENTS’ ESSAY
Get PDFMany students in the sciences believe, and often claim, that writing accuracy is not important for them; that only the subject content of their answers is. To query this misconception, a paragraph containing errors typically found in an average student’s essay was given to lecturers of agricultural science subjects at the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN), with the aim of finding out if the lecturers shared the same view. Following the error analysis theory, this paper analyses the lecturers’ reactions to the quality of writing in the text, and reveals what kinds of writing errors concern them in a student’s submission. It appears that grammatical, orthographical typographical as well as referencing errors do concern them. The findings of this investigation will be valuable to lecturers as well as students in the Communication and Academic Literacy course at BUAN and elsewhere, and may influence both perception and pedagogy
The Role of the Judiciary in Enhancing Constitutional Democracy in Botswana
Get PDFThis article highlights the important role that the judiciary has played in safeguarding Botswana’s constitutional democracy. This role is primarily located in and can be discerned from the courts’ decisions as well as the legal framework establishing the judiciary. When assessing the courts’ role in enhancing constitutional democracy consideration must be given to judicial decisions on issues relating to the rule of law and separation of powers; respect for popular sovereignty; balancing majority and minority rights; treatment of principles of international law; limited government and the institutional and procedural limitation of power. The judiciary as a constant, has over the years played a central role in fostering constitutional democracy in Botswana. The adjudication of disputes by the Courts has not been without challenges as the Courts have been, in some instances, accused of failing to fulfi l their mandate. In this work, decisions of the Higher Courts in Botswana will be used as a barometer for assessing the extent to which they have been instrumental insafeguarding constitutional democracy
History of Range Management in Botswana
Get PDFIt is not clear when organized range management began in Botswana. Oral records indicate that it is as old as the history of the Tswana people because they have always been associated with livestock farming. However, except for trading in livestoch and livestock products, there are no records of government policy on range management in the country prior to the country's independent from Btritain. Policy evolution dates back to the period shortly before independence in the 1960's and culminates with the Tribal Grazing Land Policy of 197
Cryptosporidium infection in pigs and its impact on farm environment in southern Botswana
No full textThe objective of this study was to determine cryptosporidium infection in pigs in southern Botswana. During October 2009 to April 2012, fecal samples collected from 407 animals of 12 commercial piggeries were screened for Cryptosporidium species oocysts by microscopy using Modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique and C. parvum coproantigen by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The overall infection rates in pigs were 31 and 23% by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and Modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique, respectively. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was significantly more sensitive than Modified Ziehl-Neelsen technique in detecting cryptosporidium infection (P =0.011). All farms and 12 of 33 litters (36%) had at least one animal harboring Cryptosporidium species organisms. Age-wise prevalence rates in suckling piglets, weaners, sows and boars were 31.6, 34.7, 27.9 and 22%, respectively by Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Though the highest infection rate was reported in animals aged 6 to < 20 weeks, yet there was no statistically significant difference in the infection rates between suckling and post-weaned piglets, and male and females (P=0.67). There was no association of neonatal diarrhea and the prevalence of cryptosporidium infection indicating its asymptomatic nature. Of 12 sampled piggeries, the highest prevalence rate of 44.8% was recorded in animals of Ulyth Boalike farm followed by 39.7% and 32.9% on Quality Enterprise and Belabela farm, respectively. Cryptosporidium infection rate on the remaining nine farms varied from 5% to 25%. Of the 81 environmental samples collected from all 12 piggeries, 13% soil, 12% water and 24% liquid manure samples from seven farms were positive for Cryptosporidium species oocysts. No significant association was observed between the presence of oocysts in the environmental samples and the infection rates detected in animals of seven piggeries. The present study demonstrated that cryptosporidium infection is highly prevalent in pigs in southern Botswana and underlines the importance of creating awareness among animal handlers on the risks of acquiring this zoonotic infection from infected animals and environmental contamination of swine barns
Indigenisation Laws and Bilateral Investment Treaties in Zimbabwe
Get PDFThis article discusses indigenisation and economic empowerment laws in Zimbabwe. During the colonial period, the laws in place were deliberately crafted to dis-empower Zimbabweans. It is against this background that after independence, the new government took strides to redress these imbalances through the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act and Regulations. However, these laws create legal challenges in that they potentially violate obligations in bilateral investment treaties (BITs) that Zimbabwe has entered into. They potentially violate national treatment and expropriation obligations in the BITs. After exploring the law on these elements of the BITs, the paper recommends a review of Zimbabwe’s BIT policy as a whole, with the view to aligning it with its constitutional mandate of promoting empowerment of indigenous Zimbabwean citizens
Introduction to a Special Issue on Botswana Notes and Records’ Golden Jubilee Volume in Honour of Sir Ketumile Masire
Get PDFWe are quite pleased and proud to be able to produce the momentous volume 50 of the Botswana Notes and Records (BNR) which is the country’s longest surviving indigenous journal. As the title of this introductory piece indicates, the production of the volume serves two purposes. Firstly, the volume celebrates the journal’s golden jubilee. Since its inception in 1968 when the first volume appeared it has continuously published one volume yearly without failure. Even during the very challenging times when its mother body, The Botswana Society, teetered on the brink of collapse at the turn of the new millennium owing to dire financial straits, the BNR, kept appearing
Intercalation in the Traditional Setswana Calendar
Get PDFPrecolonial Southern African farming societies used lunisolar calendars. The details have largely been lost since these calendars were abandoned in favour of the Gregorian calendar. This article seeks to investigate possible reconstructions of the Setswana calendar, especially in terms of intercalation. It is suggested that month-names may be analysed as ‘observation’ and ‘comment’ types, with observation names providing seasonal markers. It is concluded that more study is necessary but methods of intercalation probably lay between case-by-case month-naming and explicit intercalation. Stellar observations were important but it is unclear how they related to the lunisolar calendar.
 
‘The Rock Star that Got Stage Fright at Auction’: The Political Economy of Marketing the Historic Lesedi La Rona Diamond
Get PDFIn 1905 the largest diamond in history measuring 3,106-carat was discovered at Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa, and was presented to King Edward VII of Great Britain for his 66th birthday on 9 November 1907. After 110 years the second largest diamond in history was discovered by the Canadian company Lucara at its Karowe Mine in Botswana in November 2015, and the gemstone became ‘Botswana’s pride’. The 1,109-carat diamond, which came to be called ‘Lesedi La Rona’, brought great excitement globally as the news of its discovery allegedly received more than one billion hits in the Internet in just two weeks. The diamond went on a global road show with promotional stops in Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Geneva, New York, and London. This massive publicity was expected to make the stone the most expensive gem ever sold. The sale of the rough diamond in an open auction in London was also hoped to significantly ramp up the global diamond market which had slumped badly at the time. However, this paper observes that the anticipated hefty price for the historic gem and its attempted sale at an open auction as opposed to traditional secretive operation rendered the stone problematic to the diamond industry in general and to Lucara in particular. Alleged sabotage by diamantaires and uncertainty of Brexit were some of the factors advanced for the failure of the ‘rock star’ to sell and these are examined in this historical pape