Blog

A fragile sense of calm has begun to return to parts of the Gulf region following weeks of heightened conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

In an interview, Botswana’s Acting Ambassador to Kuwait, accredited to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Mr Amangwe Madisakwana said the April 7 ceasefire announcement has brought renewed hope for diplomacy, though conditions remain tense and unpredictable.

Mr Madisakwana said the region had experienced intensified attacks over the past week, targeting energy infrastructure, military installations and key transport hubs, including airports in Kuwait.

While these developments raised alarm, he noted that the ceasefire has resulted in a noticeable, though cautious, de-escalation.

He said the situation has been unsettling but manageable for Batswana living and working across the Gulf.

“Only a small number, approximately 30 people, have returned home to Botswana since the conflict began.

Many have opted to remain in their host countries, monitoring developments while continuing with their professional and academic commitments,” he said.

More than 200 Batswana are estimated to be spread across Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, working in sectors such as education, hospitality and corporate industries.

Mr Madisakwana said restraint by Gulf states has been key in maintaining relative stability.

“Despite sustaining significant economic losses, particularly to infrastructure and aviation, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar have avoided retaliatory strikes.

This measured response has helped prevent broader regional escalation,” he said.

However, daily life remains disrupted. Residents, particularly in Bahrain and Kuwait, continue to report nights punctuated by explosions, interspersed with periods of calm.

Governments have urged people to stay indoors unless necessary, limiting movement and altering social routines.

Economic pressures are also mounting.

Disruptions to maritime trade have increased the cost of goods, while sectors such as hospitality and aviation have recorded reduced revenues.

Some workers have experienced salary cuts or reduced working hours.

In Kuwait, schools have shifted to online learning, while workplaces have adopted hybrid systems, operating at about 30 per cent physical capacity with rotating staff.

Travel remains a major challenge. Since late February, flights in and out of Kuwait and Bahrain have largely been suspended.

Travellers are often forced to use road transport to Saudi Arabia to access international flights, an option described as costly and inconvenient. Limited flight operations continue in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Mr Madisakwana said Gulf governments have prioritised security, investing heavily in air defence systems and maintaining high alert levels, with emergency protocols such as public sirens in place.

Despite the uncertainty, he expressed cautious optimism, noting that Iran’s call for a permanent end to hostilities could mark a turning point if supported by sustained diplomatic efforts.

He encouraged Batswana in the region to remain calm and focused.

“This is a passing phase,” he said, expressing confidence that normalcy will eventually return.

He also reassured families in Botswana that Gulf states continue to prioritise safety, adding that their restraint has been critical in preventing further escalation.

As the region navigates a delicate path forward, much will depend on continued diplomacy and the willingness of all parties to pursue lasting peace.

Community rejection of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) for malaria control is a significant challenge in the North West district, often resulting in low coverage rates.

To effectively mitigate malaria transmission, each year around October to December, IRS campaigns against malaria are conducted with a coverage target of 80 to 85 per cent.

However, efforts of the health spraying teams often get frustrated by members of the community who refuse to cooperate and decline to have their houses sprayed.

While studies have shown that when IRS is properly implemented, it can contribute to a significant decline in mosquito population and reduce malaria morbidity and mortality, Deputy Council Secretary – Primary Health, Dr Sandra Maripe-Ebutswe expressed displeasure that community refusal undermined efforts to tackle the malaria epidemic in the district especially during peak season.

This season, she said they failed to attain the set target as coverage stood at 47 per cent despite heavy rainfalls that fuelled mosquito breeding grounds, raising cases of malaria infection and fatalities.

She highlighted that IRS was considered the most effective intervention in malaria elimination citing that in other countries, the method was working wonders with malaria cases falling dramatically as members of the community had fully embraced it due to its effectiveness against mosquitoes.

“Rejection of IRS by the community is a serious concern and yet people are dying of malaria. On daily basis, we record cases of malaria in various areas within our district,” Dr Maripe-Ebutswe emphasised.

She called on the public to change their mindset and accept IRS by allowing health workers into their homes during campaign, especially since the North West and Okavango districts were classified as malaria-prone areas because of the high number of cases registered annually.

Reports have indicated that increased cases of malaria were expected in North West district due to water pools across the district. Currently, one death and 115 clinically confirmed cases, of which 11 were children aged under five, have been recorded.

Community health nurse, Ms Cindrella Gaebowe confirmed the number, explaining that 100 cases originated from the district, 13 were imported from other districts while the rest were imported beyond the border from countries such as Ghana, Zambia and Namibia.

To control the disease, Ms Gaebowe said IRS campaign was conducted in Nhabe, and in areas within the Okavango Delta and that distribution of treated mosquito nets was also done.

Meanwhile, some officials had indicated that early floods were anticipated to hit Maun, with water levels continuing to rise in the Okavango River at Mohembo due to persistent heavy rainfall experienced within the Okavango and North West districts.

They indicated that rivers, lagoons and floodplains in the delta which had been dry for years had recharged and some were already overflowing, resulting in some areas becoming inaccessible due to flooding.

North West deputy district commissioner, Mr Ramogaupi Gaborekwe stated that a team had been tasked to conduct a surveillance in hotspot areas and see how best they could mitigate the situation before it got out of hand.

“Recently, we had to rescue one family by boat as their homestead was engulfed by water, making accessibility difficult. We anticipate more inflows as the water levels continue to rise and efforts are ongoing to strengthen early warning and community awareness systems,” he added.

A hydrologist from department of Water and Sanitation, Ms Gofaone Maradu stated that based on the observed trends, hydrological flood disaster was anticipated as the inflows from Mohembo were increasing significantly.

She said the 2025/2026 hydrological season was characterised by significantly improved flow conditions across the Okavango Delta system compared to the 2024/2025 season, noting that sustained upstream inflows, coupled with localised rainfall contributions had resulted in rising water levels and increased system response.

“We have observed increased inflow volumes from the upper Okavango Basin, recharging of previously dry rivers, lagoons, and floodplains, the rising water levels along the Boro, Gomoti, Thamalakane, and Boteti river systems and that the flood head along the Nhabe River from Thamalakane River is advancing and has now passed Komana Primary School,” she added.

Ms Maradu also noted that the Thamalakane River back flow along the Boronyane river had crossed the bridge and was about 20 metres upstream the bridge while the Okavango River peak water level recorded during the 2025/2026 hydrological year was still rising but had already approached approximately 3 metres at an earlier stage in the season, indicating a potentially higher or earlier peak.

However, she explained that the main flood wave from Mohembo had not yet fully propagated to the Thamalakane River but that based on observed trends, downstream areas, including Maun, were expected to experience rising water levels once upstream floodwaters arrived.

Despite the favourable hydrological conditions, Ms Maradu said monitoring operations were currently constrained by challenges such as continuous rainfall, which had rendered many access roads muddy and impassable, and limited resources including shortage of transport to perform routine monitoring.

Therefore, she stressed the need for rehabilitation of access roads to key hydrometric sites, re-installation and upgrading of gauges and benchmarks as well as consideration of automated or telemetry-based monitoring systems to improve data continuity during extreme conditions. 

As the debate for and against the establishment of a Constitutional Court continues, Batswana from different quarters are desirous to know the form that it will take and how its judges will be appointed.

Just as is the case with judicial officers of different lower-level courts, the appointment of judges of Constitutional Courts is a matter that countries handle with great circumspection.

Often the highest courts marking the pinnacle of the court systems, Constitutional or Supreme Courts, are where they exist, the final stage of legal recourse.

Their position in the legal structure of any country lends reason to why countries endeavour to do their absolute best in handling the appointment of judges who will sit in their hallowed chambers.

According to private attorney, Mr Nchunga Nchunga of Chuchuchu Nchunga Attorneys, at the heart of each model of appointing judges of a Constitutional Court is the desire to promote and protect judicial independence, as well as to ensure that the court comes across as legitimate.

While a couple of models of appointing ConCourt judges existed, Mr Nchunga admitted that none was perfect.

Nonetheless, he believed the mixed appointment model stood shoulders above the other models as it balanced competing interests, promoted checks and balances and was not prone to political bias.

For the above reason, the model, in which the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary all play a role in appointing judges, would be best suited to Botswana’s legal landscape.

“The mixed model, where there is a combination of executive, legislative, and/or judicial input as in the case of Germany and Canada would work for Botswana,” he said.

He explained that for Botswana situation, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) forming part of the appointing authorities would help ensure and protect the court’s judicial independence.

Mr Nchunga, a former deputy government attorney at the Attorney General’s Chambers, reckoned however that the mixed appointment model was not without fault and among its weaknesses was that it could be complex, slow and contentious.

The attorney revealed that other jurisdictions appointed ConCourt judges using the Executive appointment model where the head of state or government appointed judges, often with legislative approval such as in the case of the United States of America and South Africa.

He noted that the Executive model of appointment had its own pros and cons; its advantages’ being that it was quick and efficient.

His view was that if appointments were merit-based and appointees had security of tenure, the model could, to a great extent, protect judicial independence.

“But there is a risk of political interference if appointments are based on friendship, party loyalty or cronyism,” he said.

Mr Nchunga said their disadvantages were that it was risky with a high possibility of political bias and a potential lack of transparency.

He added that other countries went the legislative way when appointing judges to their Constitutional or Supreme Courts, with the legislature selecting judges to sit in the apex courts.

This was a practice that Mr Nchunga noted was followed by some states in the United States of America.

“The advantage of the legislative election is that it is more democratic as representatives are chosen by elected officials. Its weaknesses include the fact that it can be politicised, with the potential for populism,” he stated.

Although the model may introduce political pressure from legislators, where judges find themselves having to bend to accommodate politicians’ special interests, it can, on the one hand, insulate judges from executive influence.

Another model, currently being practiced in India and Australia provided for judicial bodies, often comprising judges, lawyers, and/or academics to recommend candidates for the appointment to the judgeship of the Constitutional Courts.

To Mr Nchunga, having a judicial body such as the JSC- an expertise-driven entity, shoulder the responsibility of championing the appointment of ConCourt judges usually resulted in merit-based and less-politicised appointments.

Even so, he felt it had some inherent weaknesses, among which, he cited a lack of democratic accountability and that it carried the potential for elitism and detachment from political reality on the ground as well as a lack of cultural relevance.

While it promotes judicial independence by involving judicial peers in selection, the JSC model is imbued with the potential for self-perpetuating elite if not transparent and if left without checks and balances mechanisms.

Underlining why no model of appointing judges was perfect, Attorney Nchunga observed that it was worth noting that not all judges were weak that they would abandon their judicial oath in favour of the Executive’s desires.

“Judges are human, they are fallible and they are not perfect. Also, not all presidents are corrupt, some maintain integrity,” he further observed, adding that political influence was also possible whatever the methodology employed in appointing the judges.

That aside, some pitfalls exist that Mr Nchunga believed Botswana should avoid should the country establish a ConCourt.

Among those, he cited Executive appointments, saying in the event that the country decided to go that route, the Executive should avoid ‘choosing judges friends and acquaintances who are loyal to them or are within their club of elites’. =

Another mistake worth avoiding was having judges who were detached from cultural reality, the ones who end up with well-researched judgments, which are academic but insensitive to the cultural reality on the ground, Mr Nchunga noted.

Regarding tenure of office for ConCourt judges, he suggested that it would serve the country well to have either age-limit based tenures or contractual limits with predictable tenures, thereby guaranteeing those in the court’s bench security of tenure.

Mr Nchunga cautioned against using the ConCourt as a terror machine, which he alleged was the case in some SADC countries.

“Their Constitutional Courts are oppressive tools of the Executive – oppressing the ordinary citizens, especially political opponents,” he concluded.

Former court president of Tatitown Customary Court in Francistown, Ms Margaret Mosojane said a ConCourt judge should be someone with a deep understanding of what human rights were; an understanding that goes beyond being merely academic.

As such, she opined that the judges should be people with a record of having previously dealt with issues of human rights.

“Much as we emphasise the knowledge-based approach of doing things, experience is also crucial. You might have the knowledge, but do you have the experience?” She asked.

Should the court be established, Ms Mosojane is all for the appointment of judges who are also alive to the cultures of Botswana’s different tribes.

“For instance, the judge should be able to understand that to a Zezuru parent, having a minor out in the streets selling vegetables is economic empowerment and not child abuse. This is where cultural sensitivity comes in,” she said.