Debswana
Debswana is a joint venture between De Beers diamond mining company and the government of Botswana. De Beers owns the rights to mine diamonds in the Kalahari, and through Debswana, has played a key role in evicting indigenous Kalahari Bushmen from their land. According to Lord Pearson of Rannoch – a Peer in the British House of Lords, "Many of them (Kalahari Bushmen) felt that they had been evicted because Debswana wanted their land for its diamonds". [1]
Debswana is a client of Hill & Knowlton, one of the largest public relations firms in the United States. Hill & Knowlton claims on its website that "an information campaign generated support [for Debswana] among members of Congress, UK Parliamentarians, Members of the Japanese Diet and Members of the European Parliament, as well as numerous media outlets." [2].
Contents
Directors
Accessed May 2009: [1]
- Blackie Marole - Managing Director, Debswana (Board Member)
- Eric M. Molale - PS to the President, (Board Chairman)
- Gareth Penny - Managing Director, De Beers (Deputy Board Chairman)
- Linah K. Mohohlo - Governor, Bank of Botswana (Board Member)
- Serwalo S. Tumelo - PS, Min of Finance & Development Planning (Board Member)
- Debbie Farnaby - Director of Information Technologies, De Beers (Board Member)
- A. Molokomme - Attorney General of the Republic of Botswana (Board Member)
- Sheila Khama - CEO, De Beers Botswana (Board Member)
Contact
Debswana House P.O. Box 329,
Gaborone, Botswana
Telephone: +267 3951 131/3614 200
Facsimile: +267 3956 110 or +267 395 2941
Web: http://www.debswana.com/homePage/dbHomePage.asp
External Resources
- George Monbiot, Who really belongs to another age - bushmen or the House of Lords?, The Guardian, March 21, 2006.
