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| Bushman child, CKGR, Botswana 2004
© 2004 Stephen Corry/Survival |
During cross-examination by the lawyer for the Bushmen, the main
government official in charge of the 2002 relocation of hundreds of
Bushmen claimed he could remember almost nothing about the exercise.
Questioned closely about what happened during the relocations, Mr Nono
Macheke, former District Commissioner for Ghanzi (the town nearest the
CKGR) said 'I don't remember' no less than 36 times during the course
of one day.
Mr Macheke maintained that no Bushmen were forced or persuaded to move
from their ancestral lands, but that all those relocated had
volunteered. He was unable, however, to provide any detail about the
relocations, which lasted about ten days, claiming he did not remember.
Mr Macheke maintained that during all the time he spent in
the reserve he did not have any conversations at all with any Bushmen, and
none had protested about being forced to move from their land.
Earlier in the trial, many Bushman witnesses had testified that they
did not want to be moved, but were forced to leave by the government
relocation teams coordinated by Mr Macheke.
