Veterans accuse BDF of neglect Having given the best years of their lives to serve the country, a growing number of retired Botswana Defence Force (BDF) soldiers are now suffering from chronic illnesses. To compound their tough existence, the ex-military personnel feel abandoned by their former employer. Turning up at The Voice’s Francistown office this […]
Last Olympics for Makwala and Montsho
After qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Botswana’s most decorated athletes, Isaac Makwala and Amantle Montsho will compete in this event for the last time as they approach retirement.
Makwala qualified for the Olympics for the third time over the weekend in the 400m heats in the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) National Championships.
He clocked 44.65s beating the Olympic standard qualifying time of 44.90s.
The 35-year-old Tutume born sprinter also qualified for the Olympics in 200m clocking 20.27s at the same event.
Makwala was also part of the 4×4 relay team which recently qualified for the Olympics at the IAAF world relays in Poland, winning a bronze medal.
Two bodies discovered at Phanga lands
Old man killed in Gulushabe lands
Police in Tutume is on the hunt for a herdboy in connection with two dead bodies found at Phanga farms near Sebina on Friday.
Tutume Police Station Commander, Superintendent Jerry Halahala, revealed to The Voice that the two bodies with severe head injuries were discovered by a neighbour on Friday who immediately alerted the police.
He said they rushed to the scene and found the two bodies in a bad state and ferried them to Tutume Hospital where they were certified dead.
Halahala said one of the deceased, a Motswana woman in her early 50s, had gone to the farm early that day to deliver food to her disabled brother and farmworkers.
Only 8 512 vaccinated in Greater Francistown
Three die from complications
The rollout of the Sinovac vaccine in Greater Francistown has come to an end after covering only a fraction of the over 65 age bracket.
Botswana’s adult population is estimated at 1.6 million.
By the time you read this story, most of the vaccination centers in the Greater Francistown would have run out of the vaccine whose rollout began on 11th May.
Botswana received 200 000 doses of the Sinovac vaccines from China in late April. This was in addition to the 60 000 doses of Covishield and 24 000 doses of AstraZeneca received from India and South Korea respectively.
Relay teams head for Poland in final Olympic push
With the Tokyo Olympics fast approaching, Botswana’s relay teams will head to Poland in a last desperate attempt to qualify for the greatest sporting event in the world.
Scheduled for 1 – 2 May in the southern Polish city of Chorzow, the World Relays will see the ‘rest of the best’ converge on Europe in the scramble for Japan.
Botswana will compete in both the men’s and women’s 4x400m events while a men’s team will also take part in the explosive 4x100m relay
With eight of 16 allocated Olympic places up for grabs in each discipline, the local runners will be assured of a spot at Japan if they can get through their heats.