The Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Kenneth Matambo, says the transformation of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) into a fully-autonomous body will be prioritised as staff members cry foul over delays in the project.

Efforts are underway to craft an overarching medium to long-term Economic Diversification Drive (EDD) Strategy for Botswana to give direction and guidelines on how best the private sector can be weaned off Government's support and protection.

Barclays Bank Botswana has released a set of lukewarm financial results for the six-month period that ended June 2010, reporting a 12.3 percent decline in Earnings Per Share to P0.25 from P.28 in the same period last year.

Zimbabweans are reeling in shock after a court jailed a young man for describing President Robert Mugabe, 86, as an "old man with wrinkles".

Salary increases for ministers and top government officials should be frozen in order to reduce the income gap between executives and ordinary workers, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said on Sunday.

Gunmen shot dead six people and injured 33 in clashes at a refugee camp in Sudan's Darfur region on Saturday, peacekeepers said.

About two years ago, South Africa, through its former president, Thabo Mbeki, cobbled up a power sharing arrangement and, with the assistance of SADC, rammed it down the throats of the long suffering Zimbabwean people.

As the epic Nchindo corruption case heads towards a close, three weeks before Magistrate Lot Moroka is to deliver his final word on the matter, the conveyor belt continues to roll out witnesses, in proceedings characterised by colourful and often confrontational cross examination. Staff writer TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA picks out some excerpts from this week's proceedings when the prosecution presented its witnesses.

Not many people would have taken you seriously if you had predicted that the Botswana National Front (BNF) stood a good chance in the Shoshong constituency in last year's general election.

Botswana's trade union movement is going through exciting and challenging times. For decades in the history of the movement, many doubted the capacity of our unions to build on their strength and move into activism to embrace issues across the broad spectrum of human rights.

SEBINA: For a village like Sebina that has been under the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) for about 44 years, one would expect it to be more developed.

Dreadful, painful and agonizing events occurred in my life. These events will never leave my memory. They are there to stay, like the footprints of Matsieng on an ancient rock. I was at secondary school doing my Form Three, starting to pave my way to a good future.

Braids as a trendsetter bring pleasure and beauty to women but have proved to be a death trap to birds.

Mmegi staffer EPHRAIM KEORENG sat down with UB don Dr Thapelo Otlogetswe and found out the linguist's passion for Setswana and new found love for politics

Mmegi: It's been five years since you were crowned Miss Botswana. Please take us back to the Miss Botswana Pageant in 2005. How was it for you?

Mmegi correspondent EDWARD BULE visits Matsitama and finds abjection and victims of tribalism staring him in the face

FRANCISTOWN: Although no one has been indicted for bribing voters, there have nevertheless been persistent allegations of vote buying. These allegations reach a crescendo with every election, be it a primary election, by-election or a general one.

Botswana's banking sector remains largely oligopolistic - dominated by a few major players - despite the entrance of four new banks into the industry in the past five years.

A team of enforcement officers at Botswana Unified Revenue Services (BURS) yesterday pounced on the Mogoditshane popular Chez Ntemba Club sealing entrances and refrigerators declaring the place closed.