03 Apr 2017

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Thato Kwerepe has assured the fishing community that he would follow up the issue of the banning of dried fish export with relevant authorities.

“I am not aware of the decision to ban dried fish export, but only heard of it in the media,” Mr Kwerepe said in an interview.

The ban which was contained in the Government Gazette dated March 10, 2017 left fishermen at Lake Ngami reeling in shock as they had made efforts to secure a lucrative market in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

The fishing season opened last month and about 287 fishermen had camped at the lake under the supervision of the Lake Ngami Conversation Trust, which is now in control of the lake.

Fishermen argued that they were not consulted prior to the decision.

Mr Kwerepe, who is also MP for Ngami, shared the same sentiments saying fishermen should have been consulted because many locals make ends meet through fishing.

He also observed that the ban had also affected poverty eradication beneficiaries, noting that the government had recently taken the decision to introduce fishing under the programme.

Mr Kwerepe also appreciated concerns regarding trade on fish, where locals are reaped off by foreigners, adding that some people even exchange fish for alcohol.

The assistant minister said the expectation was that fishermen should sell locally, and that poverty eradication beneficiaries should establish a cooperative which would regulate market prices.

On the Sehithwa cooperative, Mr Kwerepe said it was not functioning as expected because of some issues between the cooperative management and the trust.

He noted that ideally, poverty eradication beneficiaries should be the ones running the cooperative.

He was worried that tonnes of fish worth millions of pula were being exported outside, yet locals were not benefiting as the fish was sold at cheap prices.

Recently, the Maun Business Botswana Council chairperson, Mr James Evans raised concern about the ongoing trading of fish where locals were exploited by foreigners. He wished the Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) could come on board and charge taxes at border gates. ENDS