This article analyses discourses of poor work ethic in Botswana from the colonial 1930s to the first decade of the new millennium. The traditional Batswana ethos stressed the importance of hard work, but in the early 1930s British colonial administrators had begun to complain about the Batswana chiefs, leading to colonial policy changes intended to address attitude...

Botswana's tiny economy is overwhelmingly government-driven and political participation, particularly on the side of the ruling party, is critical for one's economic survival and prosperity. This has led to enduring intrigue and conflict among the country's political power elite. Opposition party activists traditionally have embraced leftist policies and claimed to...

Botswana's tiny economy is overwhelmingly government-driven and political participation, particularly on the side of the ruling party, is critical for one's economic survival and prosperity. This has led to enduring intrigue and conflict among the country's political power elite. Opposition party activists traditionally have embraced leftist policies and claimed to...

When the government of Botswana introduced the country's Pula currency in 1976 there had been significant involvement of the public in coming up with the name for the currency. A public debate also took place regarding which national symbols were to appear in the new currency. While these issues are fairly well known in the history of Botswana, no attention has bee...

In the first decade of the twenty-first century the University of Botswana (UB) branded itself among other things by changing its original and historical logo in response to severe competition for students. The logo had been made in 1983 by members of public and reflected sacrifices the population had made through contributions of cows for construction of the unive...

This article assesses the weaknesses of opposition in Botswana through the case of Kenneth Koma, the influential President of the Botswana National Front (BNF) from 1977 to 2001. This is done by examining the perception that from 1997 Koma's relationship with the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) destabilized and weakened the opposition in the country. The art...