Focus on Africa

Why the opposition in Tanzania is concerned by abductions?

The Tanzanian opposition is concerned by abductions in the country they suggest are meant to cower the opposition.

The Zimbabwe plans to cull at least 200 elephants. The meat will be used to feed hungry people. So what are the challenges and advantages of eating elephant meat?

And why did Botswana's ex-president return home to face trial. Does he have other plans afoot?

Presenter :Charles Gitonga Producers: Nyasha Michelle, Bella Hassan and Patricia Whitehorne in London and Blessing Aderogba in Lagos. Technical producer: Chris Ablakwa Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Editors: Andre Lombard and Alice Muthengi

Duration:: 33m
Broadcast on:: 24 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Hello and welcome to this podcast from the BBC World Service. Please let us know what you think and tell other people about us on social media. Podcasts from the BBC World Service are supported by advertising. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At mid-mobile, we like to do the opposite of what Big Wireless does. They charge you a lot, we charge you a little. So naturally, when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you. That's right, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees, promoting for new customers for limited time, unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month slows, full turns at mintmobile.com. Selling a little? Or a lot? Shopify helps you do your thing, however you're touching. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch or online shop stage to the first real-life store stage, all the way to the. Did we just hit a million orders stage? Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the Internet's best converting checkout. 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Because business is that grow? Grow with Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com/broadcast. Shopify.com/broadcast. [Music] Hello, I'm Charles Guitonga and here's what's coming up for you on this edition of Focus on Africa. How do you eat an elephant? Very little attention is paid to things like garnishes and spices because it is game meat after all. You want to treat it with respect and try and achieve its natural flavor with elephant that can actually do a little bit more because it's like between beef and venison. I mean, I've got a recipe that I've been working on and I mean, I can't wait to try it if I get the chance. That's part of the plan for elephants that will be called according to a government scheme in Zimbabwe. And the surprise return of Ian Kama, Botswana's former president, who's been in exile for three years. [Music] It's Tuesday, the 24th of September. First, we go to Tanzania. [Music] Two leaders of Tanzania's main opposition, Chadema Party, have been released after being arrested on Monday, along with several others as they prepared to lead what their party called a peaceful protest in the main city, Dari Salam. The demonstrations were planned to protest against alleged recent killings and abductions of opposition officials in the country. The party alleges that 83 people have been abducted. Last year, President Samya Salu Hassan lifted a ban on opposition gatherings and promised to restore competitive politics. However, human rights defenders say her administration is increasingly intimidating political rivals ahead of presidential elections next year. I spoke with John Merema, the Chadema Party spokesperson, and began by asking him what they know about the abductions and who is behind them. We don't know, but exactly we are saying that this security apparatus, they know what is happening. Because, for instance, one of our members was abducted for 29 days, in the name of Dumas Combo in Tonga region. He disappeared for 29 days, and then after 29 days, the police showed up and saying that we are having this person. Another one disappeared in Chadeau district for 10 days ago. He was just released two days ago. While the police were denying having him, but they, before yesterday, they come out and say that okay, please come and get you a person. We held him because we wanted to investigate something in his phone calls. So we suspect that the police and the intelligence services know exactly where these people are. So previous accounts of people that have been abducted or picked up and then released point you to the direction that the police could be behind this. But why would the police do this? And why would these specific individuals be targeted? We have two groups of people, or let's say three. First group is the political opposition leaders, and in particular, the Chadema leaders have been a target for a while now. Activists is the second group who have been abducted, and they're the group. It is the minority of citizens who raise their voices, specifically the Masai of Gaurongoro area. It does seem then that you are aware of what could be going on if your claims are to be correct. Do the authorities respond to this? The authorities doesn't respond, they deny these facts, and that's why we are calling for an international independent investigation so that we, as a country, can be based against this matter, and whoever is responsible for this, should be taken accountable for, through our laws. But the government doesn't want independent investigation, even the international community, the US embassy, the EU, UK, Canada, they've issued a statement calling for the government to allow independent international investigation on this matter. But the government doesn't want that the president just issued a statement that they should not preach us on how to run our country. And as Chadema then, the opposition party in the country, will you be continuing to plan for further protests? Definitely, yes, because until the government come out and they give a solution, because if you keep quiet, you definitely go in to die or being abducted. If you demonstrate you'll be arrested, it's better you'll be arrested in daylight time in front of the cameras so the people don't know exactly, so they have been arrested rather than people that can abduct you without anybody noticing, and then you just disappear like that. So, I think we are going to move forward. John Rema, Chadema Party, spoke spasan. But who are these figures who have been abducted or simply have gone missing and why? I spoke with Aikande Kuayu, a Tanzanian political analyst, to find out more. We party leaders in different levels. Some of them are at district level or branch level, and some of them are at the national level. So, for example, Ali Ki Bao, who was kidnapped and then killed, he was at Alida at the national level. But most of the leaders who have been abducted or disappeared are those at, I would say, local level. Why would this be happening? Because we do understand there's a regional election about to happen in Tanzania. Why would these people be disappearing at this point? Because the CCM government is very insecure, and it cannot tolerate competitive politics anymore. And anybody who is thought as a threat, be it Chadema Party member, party leader or an activist, has to be punished somehow or to be removed from politics or silenced. And I think now the temptation has been to kidnap them abduct them. And this has not started this year, but since July, it has heightened. And I think the context goes back to the previous administration, but because we have election now, we're going to see more of this, because the president is insecure. And not only the president, but the whole party, CCM party, is very insecure and it just wants to silence politics. It wants to silence anybody who they think are threatening their survival. You've made some quite strong allegations there, Madam Akhande, and of course, the government of Tanzania, even the president, are not here to, you know, sort of respond to what you're saying. But I'm just wondering, what is it that is driving you to believe that the government could be behind what's going on? Because this is a state with, I would say, it has power. We have authorities, we have police force. And how can you have a government that, you know, it has full authority. It has good intelligence in the sense that it has ability to get information about security in the country. And you have people disappearing, abducted in daylight, and you don't give any reports as to where this before happened. Yeah, but that may not have much to do with the party that's in power, which is CCM or the president or the presidency. It may have something to do with the security forces because they do get to, to know when reports are made of disappearances, wouldn't you think? No, because why am I implicating the president directly? Because a few months ago, when there's lots of noises that would people are disappearing and these incidences have increased, she said, this is just drama. You know, she made a joke out of it. And then when him say, Ali Qibao disappeared and his body was she tweeted, only tweeted and said she is directing security forces to carry out investigation on what happened. But a few days after, in commemorating 60th anniversary of police force in Tanzania, she went against everything. She started blaming people who have been talking about disappearance. She went like she became so defensive, we should listen to a speech. If we are to take your line of argument, then what should the opposition do about this? If you're looking at a situation where the government at very high levels are involved in what we are seeing, you know, abductions, you know, arrests. The opposition has to keep pushing the plant, the peaceful protest to say, we're concerned about this, they call it Marbollezzo, which is like mourning. So the protest was to mourn for those people who have disappeared and died recently. And you should have seen how the police reacted. I've seen photos and videos of police everywhere in the rest of them, especially in the routes where the protests were planned to happen. But the opposition should not give up. And not only the opposition. I think anybody really is concerned about the future, the democratic future of Tanzania and the political space in Tanzania should be concerned and actually either protest or speak up. Let me ask you this. Is it a widely held view or opinion in Tanzania that the government has definitely something to do with the disappearances? Yes, it is. And actually the institution that is directly involved in this is a police force because they ambush people without uniform, but they introduce themselves as police without uniform. And then they take them or sometimes they would say you're called to the police station. And then when you go, you just disappear. So it's almost obvious. It's police who are involved in this. Why do we have police force that cannot sign the people who have disappeared or give reports or even give an update of the investigation? So let me ask you this question because you reflected there a bit in your previous answers on the presidency of Samir Hassan, who is the president of Tanzania. When she came to office, she lifted the ban on opposition gatherings and promised reforms and said she would restore competitive politics. And as I can, and I'll tell you this, we felt sort of like a huge sigh of relief coming from Tanzania. What's happening now is she rolling back those pledges and taking a different direction in your opinion? I was also one of the people who were very optimistic about her administration and I even gave some interview saying, okay, she's bringing a light change, a wave of change in the country. And she even entertained reconciliation talks with the opposition and things like that. But I think it was all cosmetic. And again, I'll take you back to her speech last week, which from me was a turning point really. She said, even if I introduced reforms, their laws are still the same and they're there. And don't shoot there. You know, if you keep on with this, like disturbing polling opposition activities as disturbance, you will go back to where you were. And of course, there are a lot of other forces surrounding her. Those who do not want to change and they're in positions to influence. But at the same time, the back stops at her because she's the one who does all the appointments. And we see that these people who are doing things didn't even go full out there, but she's bringing them back. I can't equip you, a political analyst, in Tanzania. We reached out to the Tanzanian government and police for response to these allegations, but we've not yet received a response. We now move to Zimbabwe, where the government plans to call 200 elephants for the first time since 1988. The meat will be used to feed vulnerable people facing drought, providing them with a much needed source of protein, as a country, according to authorities, has more elephants than the forests can support. Eating elephant meat might come as a surprise to you, but Shingai Noka, a colleague in Zimbabwe, tells me that the people leaving near the parks where these elephants roam, are accustomed to consuming the meat. Well, it's a lot of people in Zimbabwe. It's people specifically in the areas in the communities that surround the national parks. And so that in Wanghe, which is the largest national park in Bire, which also has a large number of elephants, as well as in the south of Zimbabwe in Chirezi. So typically, when the elephants are killed, the community have the meat anyway, so that they are benefiting from it. And they also benefit from a percentage of the proceeds that the hunters pay. The government says that it needs to, with or without a drought, it needs to call and harvest elephants, because there's simply an overpopulation. So this really is more about trying to manage the numbers of elephants, rather than trying to provide meat for the villagers who get that meat anyway. Shingai, tell us how this calling exercise usually works, and whether licenses are needed and to who? Well, traditionally, in the 70s and 80s, when Zimbabwe conducted a wide-scale culling, what they would do simply is just mow down herds of elephants from the air with guns, but that really doesn't happen anymore. How they're managing the numbers now is through hunting, but it's incredibly regulated in the sense that only professional hunters can conduct the hunt and those hunters need to be licensed by the national parks and by the government. And so the areas where they take their clients to, and these clients are normally from the US and around the world, is that a lease agreement and a quota has to be available for the hunting area that they operate in. These hunts typically last from about seven to 21 days. They cost between 10,000 to 50,000 per elephant, depending on its size. And so the hunting permit for each client must be authorized by the parks and there has to be for specific animals, like the elephants and the lions. A national parks authority, a guide, has to accompany each and every one of these hunts. And so it's incredibly regulated. That doesn't mean that poaching doesn't happen, but there is the national parks here and the government have recognized that there needs to be some checks and balances, universally accepted checks and balances to be able to conduct these hunts. And do we know if the government is going to come up with sort of a new way of conducting the calling exercise, or it's going to be sort of what you've described? It's not clear what we understand is that at the moment, since the announcement, is that they're working out the modalities of how they're going to go about this. It might be that they dish out more hunting licenses, or maybe on a two for one basis, for example, or maybe it's the national parks themselves that are going to conduct the killing, the culling of these elephants. And it's not clear. And I think one of the issues is that it's incredibly controversial, which is why they stopped culling the way they did in the 1980s, because it was just no longer acceptable. There's a lot of sensitivities around that. But I think Zimbabwe has decided to do this and decided to make this announcement. And after Namibia itself announced that it was going to cull elephants. And I think the international reaction was quite muted. Zimbabwe has said that it needs to manage its elephant population in one gift, for example, which is one of the areas that they're going to target. There's about 60,000 elephants living in that area. And they say that the environment can only sustain about a third. So the question is, going forward, how do countries like Botswana and Zimbabwe, who have large elephant populations, manage it to ensure that the environment is also protected? The BBC's Shingai Nokka. Now, elephants play a significant role in tourism and the ecosystem in parts of Africa, while in some countries in Asia, they are revered as gods. But what should we know about elephant meat? Well, if you've been wondering what it tastes like, I've been speaking with chef Xingi, the outdoor kitchen chef in Zimbabwe. Let's talk about this elephant meat then. Have you ever cooked it? So fortunately, I've actually tried it before. And yeah, it's quite a delicacy, I guess. I'm not particularly happy with the fact that Mino has got an association with some controversial and conservation issues. Elephants themselves are very social animals. And this then means that it's got to be done in such a way that doesn't affect their social environment. I mean, when you look at how elephants actually sort of herd themselves, they sort of stick into family units that usually consist of around 10 or so females and their calves, right? And so the issue at hand is that when you are in the process of culling the animals, then you want to make sure that you actually do it in such a way that you don't leave half of that family sort of missing their mothers or their siblings, right? You would rather cull the whole family and then you sort of alleviate these social related issues between the elephants themselves. I found it quite interesting there, the social aspect of the elephants that you're describing and maybe your suggestion of how they can go about this exercise. But then going back to the meat, you said you've prepared this before. How is it prepared? All right, so there are different ways of preparing it. First of all, you know, you can actually boil the meat. You could fry the meat. You could stew the meat. They have different cooking methods. And very little attention is paid to things like garnishes and spices, because it is game meat after all. You want to treat it with respect and try and achieve its natural flavor on your palate before you go about doing a lot of the things that you know you could add in there to add flavor and some sort of different textures that you can clear around with. Fortunately enough, with elephant, it might be different because you can actually do a little bit more because it's got a very sort of blonde. It's not such a rich gamey sort of meaty flavor. It's like between beef and venison. So you can definitely play around with it. I mean, I've got a recipe that I've been working on and I mean, I can't wait to try it if I get the chance. What you want to understand about this piece of meat is that it's actually quite a tough meat. You can imagine this creature is massive and it's big on muscle and it's quite a lean meat as well. So it's got very little fat, which means that the tenderness is affected there. And while we're on that tenderness aspect, I want to say that when they do call elephants, there are seasonal variations that occur, which also affect the end product. I mean, you can only imagine now that there is a drought, the pieces of meat are going to be more leaner and a little bit tougher than if this process was being done in a more green season where there's more vegetation for them to feed on. You would find that that same piece of meat would be a little bit more fatty and a little bit more tender. Might surprise you, Chef, that I once, when I was a very young boy, tested elephant meat and that's because where I leave then in Kenya, you know, we would have elephants come into people's farms and the farmers would get angry and hunt them down. So that's sort of how I ended up in that situation. And I do remember that toughness that you're talking about. I don't remember much of the taste because I don't think I could finish the piece. It was too chewy and too tough for me to be able to actually eat. But tell me this, is the community open to eating this meat in Zimbabwe? Yes, 100%. The community is open. I mean, traditionally in Africa, you find that game-meters sort of sustain the communities and, you know, it's something that's not new or sort of a surprise to people to consume such a type of meat. I'll ask you, just out of curiosity here, how many people, out of your Chef mathematics, do you think these 200 elephants can feed? Phew, that's a very interesting question. Because again, it's all going to depend on how this program rolls out. Because if you look at a male elephant, you're looking at an average of about 4,000 kgs to 6,000 kgs or rather a range of 4,000 to 6,000 kgs. And then a female one would be around 2,500 kilos to 3,500 kilos. So to my assumption, I'd imagine that taking heed of that social aspect that I mentioned earlier, you want to maybe do more of the female ones. But then again, on a conservation note, it's also just a bit of an issue that they might, again, have to deal with there. So I would say that one elephant, if it were a male, definitely feed about 400 people. If it were a female, then it'll be around about half of that. Are there any known nutrition or benefits to this meat or is it the kind of nutrition that you'd get from other meat that we used to like beef got meat? Right, so they do say that this is a much healthier alternative to the conventional red meat that we're used to seeing in the supermarket. And it's understandable because this piece of meat is obviously lean up and it's more of a situation where nowadays we have the conventional meat to market sort of juicing the meat with different types of hormones and feeding them different types of grains. Whereas you can imagine the diet of an elephant is often not as induced as the conventional red meat market. So they do say that they are benefits. And I mean, there's a cognitive bias where consumers believe that just because of the way it tastes, they might also perceive that they are health benefits that are associated with it there. The celebrity chef and nature enthusiast, Chef Shengi. This is focus on Africa from the BBC World Service. Selling a little or a lot. Shopify helps you do your thing however you chit-ching. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage to the first real-life store stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage, Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout. 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms because businesses that grow grow with Shopify. Get a one dollar per month trial period at shopify.com/work. Shopify.com/work. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. With the price of just about everything going up during inflation, we thought we'd bring our prices down. So to help us, we brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing. Mint Mobile unlimited, premium wireless. Give it a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees, promoting for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month slows. Full turns at mintmobile.com. Let's turn to a major story from Botswana. A country in southern Africa known for its stable democracy and the diamond industry. The former president, Lieutenant General Ian Kama, has unexpectedly returned home after three years of self-imposed exile. His return comes amidst serious charges, 14 in total, including money laundering and the illegal possession of firearms. But who is Ian Kama? He led Botswana for 10 years from 2008 to 2018, following in the footsteps of his father, Saritsa Kama, the country's first president. What makes this story even more compelling is Ian Kama's background. He was born in the UK to Saritsa Kama and Ruth Kama, a British woman. The interracial marriage sparked international controversy in the 1940s, as it was strongly opposed by South Africa's white minority government. The British government, not wanting to strain relations with South Africa, forced Saritsa Kama to live in exile in the UK. The story was so significant that it was later adapted into a Hollywood film, A United Kingdom. Now Ian Kama has returned to Botswana to face court, insisting that the charges against him are politically motivated. It was due to a peer-in-court this week, but the charges have been postponed. With Botswana's elections just weeks away, his return could have significant political impact, particularly in light of his ongoing feud with the current president, Muhwezi Masisi, who is seeking free election. I've been speaking to Inoucent Sarakhla, a journalist with a monitor newspaper who described the atmosphere when Ian Kama made a surprise return. I think the reason why Kama could have come back is that he thought that it was highly likely that his charges would be withdrawn. And when he came back again last week on Friday, who has met by his people in Sarohai, he's also the paramount chief. So during his address, he told them that, you know, he had been notified that this case for Ganswita, supposed to continue yesterday on Monday, was postponed. And they didn't tell him when it would come. It was just postponed indefinitely. So there's some thoughts that, you know, the case might just disappear forever. And now it's almost elections time, you know. He's coming here also to try and campaign for his party, the Moderna Patrick Front, which is a patron of, if you remember while he has long left, the ruling Moderna Democratic Party and, you know, brook ranks with the current president. And something interesting that he said now at the hotlands, it was that, it was just outside his home. It was that he was now going back to the court. That would be a traditional leader. And I think now he wants to try and use, you know, his influence, because as a paramount chief, he would be overlooking a quite large area in the central part of Botswana where he's hoping we would, you know, be able to reach out to people and influence them the way he wants, because he's clearly against the current president, the president must succeed. So what are the main reasons behind this self-imposed exile? Why did he leave Botswana? According to him, he was persecuted for a long time by the current regime. You know, he actually likened his exile to that of his father, if you remember, that he was born in England because his mother and father were banished from Botswana because I'm the apartheid government and British government who are against interracial marriages that time. He felt that his life was in danger. He still says he doesn't believe that has gone away even when he's back now. But now he feels like he's trying. He can fight for himself while he's still here within Botswana. He even says that he will watch what he eats, where he goes, and things like that. Talk to us a bit more about these charges, then, of money laundering. You've been touching on some of them, as well as illegal possession of firearms. How are these charges being perceived in Botswana, especially now that he's back? Hammer, you know, as president, he was loved. He's actually still loved by many, especially the old people. And also, you know, when he was president, he used to do, you know, humanity cases where he would go out there. Maybe just have lunch with the elderly people. He likes going around, seeing people and gifting. But then the other side of him, again, you know, even when I was speaking to some young people, just we can say that, okay, we see our parents love this guy. He's their paramount chief. But for us, you know, he left us without opportunities. We didn't benefit anything. We didn't really get jobs. We are still here in a plane. So we can't even go in there and celebrate his return. Yeah. Just clarify for us a bit, you know, why you think these charges will be dropped at some point? Because the people who, you know, gave him the guns who were in office, charges have been withdrawn against them. Now, that's why I think that he's likely to be let go, because even now, as he has come now, you know, the guns were supposed to be at his house. And we haven't had anything about the DIS or anyone trying to go and get those guns from him or, you know, trying to arrest him. You see, he's in the country now, and it's just all settled. So Ian Kamma has criticized even the current president, Masisi, and called him a mistake. What led to the falling out between these two leaders? Well, I think it was, you know, it may be gentlemen's agreement gone wrong, because Kamma accuses Masisi of, you know, mistreating him as immediately after he left his case, you know, Masisi attempted to kill him and just to frustrate him. And they reduced his security stuff, working at his house. On the other hand, president Masisi says, no, this guy wanted me to make his little brother, together, Kamma, vice president. Now, of course, I didn't do that. He's angry at me. That's the long shot of it. So, politically speaking, then, Botswana is often praised for its political stability. Do you think his return and the current political climate, of course, with an election coming in, will that stability be affected in any way? I think the tone that he was using, with also his royal uncles and everybody, they are presenting themselves as people who would now want to do everything peaceful. In terms of the political landscape, because he belongs to a quite a small party, you know, they have only three parliamentary members right now, and they're not even likely to get anything more than 10, because they also have issues there. Generally, the campaigns are usually clean. And I think, also, with president Masisi, it's seen that, you know, how Kamma was welcomed, how eyes are on him, the world is looking on. I doubt they would be, you know, up to doing anything that would make them look bad, you know, with the elections coming up just next month. Reporter, in Los Angeles, Saracala, in Botswana. Focus on Africa was put together by Inyasha Michelle, Bella Hassan, and Patricia Whitehan in London, and Blessing Adeluba, in Lagos. Chris Ablacoa was our technical producer, and Paul Bachibinga was a senior producer. Andrew Lombard and Alice Motanki are our editors. I'm Charles Litonga, we'll speak again next time. [Music] Selling a little? Or a lot? Shopify helps you do your thing. However you change, Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business, from the launch or online shop stage to the first real-life store stage all the way to the. Did we just hit a million orders stage? Shopify is there to help you grow. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the Internet's best converting check out, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Because business is that grow, grow with Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com/broadcast. I'm Katia Adler from the Global Story Podcast. Today we're looking at Sudan and the brutal conflict raging there. We hear from some of the millions of civilians brutalised and displaced. It's been dubbed the forgotten war, but is it more ignored than forgotten by the international community? And if so, why? Find us wherever you get your podcast. [BLANK_AUDIO]