Catherine Sasman
2 October 2008
Windhoek — On its 42nd independence anniversary on Tuesday, Botswana celebrated its status as the oldest post-colonial democracy on the African continent, and one of the world's most venerable multiparty arrangements.
"Our democracy remains rooted in a strict adherence to the constitution, which has been the guarantor of our collective responsibilities to each other, as well as individual liberties we all enjoy," said Botswana High Commissioner to Namibia, Norman Moleboge on Tuesday. Botswana became independent from Britain on September 30, 1966.
Moleboge cautioned that democracy continuously has to be nurtured, especially viewed against domestic and global challenges.
The country has made impressive strides in the economy, education, employment creation and expanding its infrastructure over four decades.
Namibia and its neighbour Botswana have always enjoyed cordial relations, concretised through joint permanent commissions on cooperation and joint permanent commissions on defence and security and national level.
The fourth session of the Namibia-Botswana joint commission of cooperation will take place in Walvis Bay in the middle of October.
Namibian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lempy Lucas, said discussions at this meeting would cover areas of agriculture, education, science and technology, information, gender and youth matters, and trade-related issues.
She said the two countries - through the Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (Bedia) that promotes small and medium enterprises - aim at promoting partnerships between business people on both sides of the border.
One of the Bedia assisted companies is in the process of setting up an electric cable manufacturing plant in northern Namibia.
"At a regional level, as members of SADC, our countries have moved a step closer to regional integration with the recent conclusion of the SADC Free Trade Area," Lucas said.
This year has seen growth in the level of cooperation between Namibia and Botswana.
The Botswana Police Service has provided a month-long training to their Namibian counterparts on community policing and crime prevention. In turn, the Namibian Police gave training on combating organised crime.
Following agreements between the two countries, improvement has been made on the road infrastructure leading to the establishment of a dry port facility at Walvis Bay.
The envisaged construction of the Trans-Kalahari railway line is part of the areas of cooperation. These projects are geared towards boosting intra-regional trade.
The two countries have also reached agreement to operate the common Mamuno/TransKalahari border post 24-hours a day from May 2009.
The same will apply to connecting borders on the eastern side between Botswana and South Africa.
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