Dear Mr President, end SOE now please! – Boro polers
Once again the people of Boro – Botswana’s mokoro trails capital – are helplessly watching the flood pass by without makgoa (tourists). Another lucrative peak season without tourists means a missed opportunity to make a living for Boro people, THALEFANG C
On the edge of the Buffalo Fence, right by the crack of the Kunyere fault where the Boro River finds a path to flow down into the Thamalakane River, is a community of professional mokoro polers at a place named DRC. It is a temporary settlement just outside Boro village. DRC is Botswana’s mokoro trails capital. It is the main market place for Okavango Kopano Mokoro Community Trust (OKMCT).
DRC is made up of polers from six villages trading on the NG32 Concession namely, Ditshuping, Boro, Xharaxao, Xuoxao, Daunara and Xaxaba. Many of them made temporary settlements at DRC where tourists visit for mokoro trails in the Okavango Delta.
Tourism is their main source of income. Some sell baskets and crafts while many are professional guides, mokoro polers and trackers who trade by offering tourists an authentic Okavango Delta experience.
It has been three years now with Boro not receiving the crowds of intrepid tourists looking for unique ways to experience the Okavango Delta. In 2019, the river completely dried and that forced the people to relocate to where there was water. The whole community moved east and temporarily settled at Daunara where there was plenty of water from the Santandiba channel. When the great flood of 2020 arrived in early March last year, the community packed and returned to DRC to the Boro waters.
As the river returned and people of DRC and surrounding settlements began to hope for the glory days ahead, COVID-19 was unfortunately rearing its ugly head.
The first wave of lockdowns across the world was in effect and no tourists were visiting. The travel bans dashed all the hopes of DRC thriving again.
But the people of the Okavango Delta, being such strong willed enterprising humans, deferred their hopes of roaring back to glory days to the year 2021. Like many, they said they thought by now COVID-19 would be history and they would be poling tourists around.
However, even with relaxed travel restrictions, fewer tourists are coming to Boro. It is now peak season and hundreds
of tourists should be making their way to the Okavango. But mekoro are just parked, chained and locked up with no tourists arriving. Under normal circumstances during winter, DRC would be booming and locals trading in pula and US dollar from the proceeds of foreign tourists.
Tumediso Itatoleng, a poler who has been patiently waiting for the trickling in of some tourists who braved the current tough travel conditions, has one request from the powers that be.
Itatoleng like most of the people in DRC does not rely much on government handouts. The bush and the river give them life. But this year they find themselves having to beg the government in order for them to survive.
“Makgoa ga a feel safe ke State of Emergency” (Tourists are not feeling safe because of State of Emergency),” stated Itatoleng. Asked what could be the solution to resuscitate the ailing tourism industry, Itatoleng confidently said the SoE is now the biggest hindrance for tourists to come to Botswana.
“Tourists are generally scared to come to an African country that is under State of Emergency. So, many tourists who have been vaccinated in their home countries and coming with negative Covid tests are not free to come because of our State of Emergency,” explained Itatoleng.
He implored President Mokgweetsi Masisi to consider ending the SoE so that tourists could freely come to Botswana.
Oleteng Terrence Itumeleng, also from Boro, urged for the country to be restored to democratic order saying SoE is making them suffer.
“They should bring vaccines and cancel the State of Emergency, then tourists would come.”
Itumeleng added locals should be vaccinated and tourists allowed to come in with negative COVID-19 test results.
OKMCT trust manager, Seikaneng Moepedi also urged the government to consider vaccinating workers in the tourism industry so that they could open up the sector.
“Our polers, people at airports and other tourism workers should just be vaccinated. They are not many, even people at Boro are not many. They could all be vaccinated and that could have a positive impact on the industry and economy,” argued Moepedi.
Tour operator, Vincent Kokomane, who is currently in the US luring tourists to travel to Botswana, said he is also encountering some discomfort amongst potential clients when they find out that the country is under SoE. “Most of the insurance companies do not cover travels to countries with SoE,” said Kokomane. “So potential clients have to check with their insurer for details on premium cover.”
The issue of insurance is a big travel hindrance that is making Botswana not attractive for tourists. DRC polers are, in effect, just idling with no income because there are fewer opportunities to tap into at places such as Boro when there are no tourists.
The situation is aggravated by the US Centres of Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendations on Botswana. CDC has placed Botswana on the highest risk level. On its website, it recommends that US citizens should “avoid travel to Botswana”. CDC says “because of the current situation in Botswana, even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.”
Parliament passed a motion to extend the SOE by another six months in April to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. SoE was initially declared from April 2, 2020, and was further extended by another six months in September 2020.
There have been murmurs that the Executive wants another extension when the current period elapses.