Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
saw the beginning of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
.
Lockdowns
A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely.
The term is used for a prison ...
were implemented between March and May, and restrictions continued throughout the year. The previous year's
general election
A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
was disputed by the opposition, and several cases were filed to overturn the results. Tensions rose with South Africa in 2020 as Botswana sought the prosecution of
Bridgette Radebe
Bridgette Radebe (née Motsepe) is a South African businesswoman of Tswana descent and the sister of South African businessman Patrice Motsepe and First Lady of South Africa Tshepo Motsepe.
Career
She was born on 26 February 1960.dying off in large numbers, as well as similar concerns about
vultures
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and So ...
. Armed conflicts with poachers continued throughout the year, including the killing of four men in November that caused protests in Namibia.
Incumbents
*
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Vice President
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
Chief Justice of Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
:
Terence Rannowane
Terence Rannowane is a Botswana judge who has served as the Chief Justice of Botswana since 2018.
Career
Rannowane obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Botswana in 1990, and he obtained a Master of Laws from the University of Warw ...
2020–2022 Botswana elephant die offs
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana
This article documents the impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Botswana.
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of peo ...
* January – Botswana receives a 1.4 billion pula loan from the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
to fund water supply improvements.
* 8 January – The
Court of Appeal
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of t ...
rules that a bid to overturn the
2019 Botswana general election
General elections were held in Botswana on 23 October 2019 to elect MPs and local government councillors. Despite a high profile split in the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) in May 2019 when former President Ian Khama left the party and ...
may be heard.
* 12–24 January – A hearing is held to investigate the derailment of a Botswana Railways passenger train the previous month.
* 15 January –
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French high-end Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its produc ...
buys the
Sewelô
The Sewelô diamond is the third-largest rough diamond ever found. The diamond was recovered in April 2019 by the Lucara Diamond Corp in its Karowe diamond mine in Botswana. The diamond is 1,758 carats and weighs 352 grams or 12.39 oz.
At the ...
diamond.
* 21 January – President Masisi speaks at a panel in
Davos
, neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch
, twintowns =
}
Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...
during the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
.
* 29 January – The Court of Appeal dismisses a case to overturn the 2019 Botswana general election.
February
* February –
** Botswana rejects an application of Zimbabwean political refugees to stay after a
High Commission on Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
decision that Zimbabwe was safe for return.
** Finestar Diamonds opens a manufacturing factory in
Gaborone
Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census.
Gaboron ...
.
** Vice President Tsogwane speaks at the reopening of the
Phakalane Convention Centre
Phakalane is a suburb in Botswana situated a few kilometers from the capital city Gaborone.
It is 12.5 km north of the city centre via the A1 road. It is a commercial and residential area, which has experienced significant growth and develop ...
following renovations.
* 7 February – Botswana auctions hunting licenses to hunt a total of 60 elephants.
* 12 February – The Gaborone High Court dismisses a challenge against the 2019 election results by Mogalakwe Mogalakwe.
* 16 February – Miguel da Costa is removed as coach of
Jwaneng Galaxy F.C.
Jwaneng Galaxy Football Club is a Botswana Association football, football club based in Jwaneng. The club currently plays in the Botswana Premier League.
History
Galaxy were founded in 2015 after two local clubs merged: the Jwaneng Comets and th ...
* 18 February – The Gaborone High Court dismisses with costs a challenge against the 2019 election results by Entebetse Boitshwarelo.
March
* 16 March – The Botswana Football Association suspends its league in response to COVID-19.
* 20 March – All schools are closed due to worries of the spread of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
* 23 March – Botswana closes its borders following the first COVID-19 fatality in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
* 25 March– A 78-year-old woman who was suspected of having COVID-19 died in
Ramotswa
Ramotswa is a village in South-East District of Botswana, southwest of the capital of Gaborone. The population was 27,760 in 2011 census.
It is the tribal capital of the BaLete, an ethnic majority springing from the Nguni tribe.
Ramotswa's m ...
. A few days after her death, the results came back positive making it the fourth case and first death of COVID-19 in the country.
* 26 March – The government of Botswana establishes a COVID-19 relief fund.
* 30 March –
** The first three cases of COVID-19 in the country are confirmed.
Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services.
Some governments have separate ministers for mental health.
Count ...
Lemogang Kwape
Lemogang Kwape is a Motswana politician, who currently serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs and MP for Kanye South.
Ministerial roles
* Minister of Health and Wellness (until 2020)
* Minister of International Affairs and Cooperation (since 20 ...
says the three patients are in quarantine and had recently travelled to Britain and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
.
** President Masisi declares a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
April
* April – Botswana evacuates its black rhinoceros population from the Okavango Delta amid increased poaching and flooding.
* 1 April – Botswana Power Corporation raises electricity tariffs by 22 percent.
* 9 April – President Masisi and the entire Parliament of Botswana go into quarantine after the nurse testing them for COVID-19 is confirmed to have COVID-19.
* 16 April – President Masisi pardons 149 prisoners to prevent
prison overcrowding
Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. Dur ...
during the COVID-19 pandemic.
* 27 April – President Masisi extends the national lockdown from May 1 to May 7.
* 30 April – The Bank of Botswana reduces interest rates and capital ratios in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
May
* 15 May – The
Confederation of African Football
The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...
determines that Botswana's failure to attend a 2020 U17 Women's World Cup match in Morocco due to COVID-19 was permissible.
* 20 May – Botswana's COVID-19 lockdown ends.
June
* June –
** Fuel shortages caused by import delays and panic buying prompt Botswana to use its
strategic fuel reserve
Global strategic petroleum reserves (GSPR) refer to crude oil inventories (or stockpiles) held by the government of a particular country, as well as private industry, to safeguard the economy and help maintain national security during an energy c ...
.
** Botswana grants its first generation licenses to Independent Power Producers to authorise the construction of power plants.
** Botswana begins dehorning its rhinoceros population to discourage poaching.
** The Botswana government hires
AfriForum
AfriForum is a South African non-governmental organisation focused mainly on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. AfriForum has been frequently described as a white nationalist, alt-right, and Afrikaner nation ...
to prosecute
Bridgette Radebe
Bridgette Radebe (née Motsepe) is a South African businesswoman of Tswana descent and the sister of South African businessman Patrice Motsepe and First Lady of South Africa Tshepo Motsepe.
Career
She was born on 26 February 1960.
* 4 June – Bishop Frank Nubuasah delivers a written eulogy for
George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...
, whom he had befriended in the 1990s.
* 13 June – Gaborone returns to lockdown after reports of COVID-19 cases.
* 15 June – Gaborone ends its lockdown after suspected COVID-19 cases are found to be negative.
July
* July –
** Botswana undergoes a fuel shortage due to COVID-19.
** Botswana holds a study in conjunction with the
Harvard AIDS Initiative
Since the late 1980s, the Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative (HAI) has been at the forefront of HIV/AIDS research, education and leadership.
Chaired by noted researcher Max Essex, HAI is currently involved in studies to examine drug ...
HIV/AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...
Botswana Tourism Organisation
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime
Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) is a Botswanan anti-corruption agency founded in 1994 by the government of Botswana that sets out to monitor, expose & prevent acts of corruption
The current director general of the organisat ...
.
* 20 August – A report by Omnia Strategy and Alaco condemns the government of Botswana for its charges against Bridgette Motsepe and Ian Khama.
* 26 August – President Masisi makes several changes to the Cabinet, including the removal of Unity Dow and Lemogang Kwape.
* 30 August – The Trans-Okavango Charity Cycle begins.
September
* 11 September – Parliament rejects a motion to rearm wildlife officers following an increase in armed poaching.
* 17 September – Botswana allows wives to legally own land independently of their husbands.
* 19 September – Botswana becomes the 103rd country to ratify the
Kigali Amendment
The Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is an international agreement to gradually reduce the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). It is a legally binding agreement designed to create rights and obligations in internatio ...
to the
Montreal Protocol
The Montreal Protocol is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances that are responsible for ozone depletion
Ozone depletion consists of two related events observed sinc ...
.
* 22 September –
Minister of Basic Education
The Minister of Basic Education is a Minister in the Cabinet of South Africa, with the responsibility of overseeing the Department of Basic Education, which is responsible for primary and secondary education. Before 10 May 2009 the portfolio for ...
Fidelis Molao
Fidelis Macdonald Molao is a Botswanan politician and educator. He is the current Minister of Agriculture in Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked count ...
announces an initiative to teach Swahili in schools.
October
* October –
**
Choppies
Choppies Enterprises Limited is a Botswana multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. The retailer initially sold only food-based (both fresh groceries and wholesale long-life foods) and other fa ...
files a 653 million rand ($40 million) lawsuit against
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
for failing to sign off the company's 2018 accounts.
** The Bank of Botswana lowers interest rates due to slow economic activity and low inflation.
** Construction begins on The Fields Mall.
* 8 October – Construction is completed on the Kazungula Bridge.
* 14 October – The
Botswana Police Service
The Botswana Police Service is the police service of Botswana.
History Colonial era
The service has its origins in the ''Bechuanaland Mounted Police'', which was formed on 1 July 1884. The ''Bechuanaland Border Police'' were formed on 4 Aug 1885. ...
establishes regulations for responding to
gender-related violence Gender-related violence or gender-based violence includes any kind of violence directed against people due to their gender or gender identification.
Types of gender-related violence include:
* Violence against women (sometimes referred to simply as ...
* November
** Botswana undergoes a gradual reopening of international travel.
** Botswana signs an agreement that allows it to purchase enough
COVID-19 vaccine
A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19).
Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...
s for 20 percent of its population.
** A 998-carat diamond, one of the largest in the world, is discovered in Karowe diamond mine by
Lucara Diamond
Lucara Diamond Corp. is a diamond exploration and mining company, founded in 2009 by two Canadian mining executives, Eira Thomas, Catherine McLeod-Seltzer and Swedish-Canadian mining billionaire Lukas Lundin, operating in Southern Africa but esta ...
.
** Mfolo Mfolo is suspended as CEO of the Botswana Football Association after the Botswana team is disqualified from the 2020 COSAFA Under-17 Championship. Manager Thabiso Kebotsamang is appointed as acting CEO.
** Botswana establishes 25 gender violence courts.
* 5 November – The Botswana Defence Force
shoots
In botany, a plant shoot consists of any plant stem together with its appendages, leaves and lateral buds, flowering stems, and flower buds. The new growth from seed germination that grows upward is a shoot where leaves will develop. In the spri ...
three Namibian men and one Zambian man on the
Chobe River
The Cuando River (or Kwando in the non-colonial spelling) is a river in south-central Africa flowing through Angola and Namibia's Caprivi Strip and into the Linyanti Swamp on the northern border of Botswana. Below the swamp, the river is called t ...
Petra Diamonds
Petra Diamonds Ltd is a diamond mining group headquartered in Jersey. Petra own one of the world's most productive mines historically, the Premier Mine, Cullinan Diamond Mine is famed for having produced the Cullinan Diamond, world's largest roug ...
* 11 December – Botswana begins an initiative to produce
citrus
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...
plants.
Deaths
* 24 April – Kebadire Kalake, 72, Member of Parliament.
* 27 May – Thuso Letlhoma, 48, radio personality.
* 2 September –
Serara Selelo-Mogwe
Serara Segarona Selelo-Mogwe (1927 – September 2, 2020), also known as Serara Kupe-Mogwe, was a pioneering nurse and academic in Botswana. After serving as the country's first black, female chief nursing officer, she became the first Motswana wom ...
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...