Power and powerlessness: when support becomes overbearing-the case of outsider activism on the resettlement issue of the Basarwa of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve

Abstract

Thefocus of this paper is on the role of outsider activists who are supporting a group of Basarwa resisting relocation from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in Botswana. The role of non Basarwa activists is problematized in order to unravel some of the complexities surrounding advocacy, especially its bearing on the relative power of the 'supported'. The paper argues that in the case of Basarwa who are currently being forcibly relocated by the Botswana Government out of the CKGR, oftentimes the voice of 'outsiders' who eloquently expose the human rights abuse of their subjects becomes more dominant than the local voices. This is especially so when the advocacy is done using Information and Communication Technologies (lCTs).