BUSHMEN DID NOT LEAVE THE CKGR VOLUNTARILY

First People of the Kalahari (FPK) wants to reply to
the Midweek Sun and Daily News articles of 12 October.
The letter from the Department of
Wildlife and National Parks and the press release by
the Office of the President are not correct.

Our people from Molapo in the Central Kalahari Game
Reserve did not leave the reserve voluntarily. Molatwe
Mokalakala from Molapo, talking with officers of FPK,
said that they were forced to move. Guns were
being pointed at them every day and they were dying of
thirst and hunger. They also saw their livestock taken
from them without their consent. They were
interrogated every day by the government officials,
including the police, the Special Support Group, and
also wildlife officials and the Gantsi District
Commissioner herself.

He said they were forced to go into the trucks. They
were told they would be shot if they didn't go because
they had taken government money as compensation the
last time they were forced from the reserve.

They believed they would be shot if they didn't go
because they know some others have been shot. They
knew Sidney Pilane, who is the lawyer against them in
the court case, himself was commanding forces to shoot
when their families tried to bring them food and water
on 24 September. So they were afraid they also might
be shot. They knew this had happened because the
scouts and police who went to see them in the reserve
were proud of the arrests of FPK and were telling them
everything. They told them "Survival has run out of
money and FPK is arrested, so who are you
now?"

Also in Mmegi newspaper on 11 October the Foreign
Ministry spokesperson Clifford Maribe argued that in
his view Sesana and FPK do not deserve their
prestigious Right Livelihood Award. He thinks it was
given on the basis of misleading information from
Survival International. But we challenge that. It is
Maribe and his government who are misleading the
outside world on this issue. If it is us who are
misleading the world, why is no journalist allowed to
go to the reserve to see what is happening?

The government is saying the goats in the reserve have
disease but that is just the government's excuse to
evict us. If it was due to disease, the disease would
be treated by veterinary officers. What kind of
disease is there inside the CKGR that must be
controlled by guns and armed guards? The government is
forcing and killing the Bushmen of the CKGR.

We do know the government is not happy for FPK to get
the Right Livelihood Award. That is because the
government's aim is to kill all the Bushmen of the
reserve. FPK challenges the government to let
journalists go and see what is happening inside the
CKGR.

Anyone who wants to challenge this press release can
ring us on 7183 0664, or in the evening on 7165 6457
--
FPK Botswana
fpkbotswana@fastmail.fm