According to Easton bible dictionary, Jubilee is the name of the great semi-centennial festival of the Hebrews, which lasted for a year. Then, the year of jubilee was proclaimed by a blast of trumpets, which sounded throughout the land. During that year (Jubilee), the land was to be fallow and the Israelites were only permitted to gather spontaneous produce of the field (Lev. 25:11, 12).  

Landed property during that year returned to original owners and all those enslaved were set free and there was remission of all debts. Placing the then Hebraic practice in juxtapose to Botswana 50th anniversary one find striking similarities. Surely those in the echelons of power have borrowed leave from this ancient law.

 The Government has for instance in the build up to the jubilee deliberately formulated among others a national vision, which is primarily a future projection of the nation’s dreams and aspirations.

 All these efforts as was the case then centered around improving the livelihoods of the citizenry.
Thus an array of programs and projects were especially tailored to emancipate Batswana from the shackles of abject poverty.

To further buttress this, President Lt Gen. Dr Seretse Khama Ian Khama in true spirit of Jubilee on Tuesday 27 September granted amnesty to 580 prisoners.
His Excellency the President said then that the pardon was to give prisoners a chance to celebrate independence with their families.

Among the pardoned 29 were first time offenders, those who were serving short stint and a batch of 366 who were already serving on the extra mural programme.
“Indeed it shows that you read the Bible,” were jubilant words of Mr Akofang Gaboitsiwe, one of those released as per the Daily News edition of September 29, 2016.

In Kanye Professor Thapelo Otlogetswe who chronicled pre and post-independence events of the nation of Botswana also gave Batswana a pat on the back for developing their country from its humble beginnings to its present day upper middle income economy; a feat he said was largely made possible by the Christian foundation of the fore-fathers particularly Dikgosi. 
He said to his audience at the main kgotla in Ntsweng which was bursting to the seams with vibrancy that there was need to follow in the footsteps of leaders of yesteryears and embrace Christian ideals as a matter of urgency.

Professor Otlogetswe gave the first stanza of the national anthem; “Blessed be this noble land, Gifts to us from God’s strong hand, Heritage our fathers left to us. May it always be at peace,”    as a vindication of Botswana’s founding fathers’ absolute dependence on the Almighty.

A University of Botswana lecturer and Kanye native, Professor Otlogetswe said contrary to widely held view by many the three who he paid tribute to, did not go to England to ask for protection.
“Bechuanaland was already declared a British protectorate as per the 1885 declaration and the three Chiefs only went to England around 1895 to protest against looming transfer of the Protectorate to the British South Africa Company,” he said

Thanks to the boldness of the three, an agreement was reached that Bechuanaland should remain a British Protectorate if the Chiefs ceded a strip of land on the Eastern part of the country for railway construction; something that was eventually carried out and a railway built between 1896 and 1897.

Speaking earlier on Kgosikgolo Malope expressed his appreciation of the government of Botswana for recognizing and honoring his enterprising late grandfather, Kgosikgolo Bathoen II for his contribution towards nation building.
Kgosi Bathoen, affectionately referred to as B2 by his subjects was among a dozen that made the first batch of the members of the House of Chiefs.ENDS