The workshop reflected Botswana’s evolving landscape on LGBTI+ rights. Since the landmark 2019 High Court ruling decriminalising consensual same sex acts, upheld by the Court of Appeal in 2021 and followed by the formal repeal of colonial-era penal code provisions, the country has made notable strides, yet societal attitudes often lag, with media coverage frequently cited as a double-edged sword that can either challenge stereotypes or perpetuate them. LEGABIBO’s CEO, Nozizwe Ntesang, highlighted the workshop’s core purpose: media sensitisation training for media practitioners, journalists, and other stakeholders with an interest in the media.
“Every democracy is only as strong as the freedom of its media… media helps to bridge the gap between the perceptions of people,” she said while emphasising the media’s foundational role in democracy. It is a clear signal that the government’s purse is empty and that our own behaviour has left veterinary officials fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.
We have been here before. During COVID-19, many of us thought we knew better. We ignored simple rules, we carried on as if the danger was someone else’s problem, and the virus took lives and left our economy on its knees.
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We are still broke from that experience. Yet now, with FMD…
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