THE Zimbabwe/Botswana Joint Permanent Commission will meet in Victoria Falls next week to, among other issues, discuss the stand-off that emerged between the two countries over the arrest of three Tswana rangers who illegally entered the country, a Cabinet Minister confirmed yesterday.

The commission will sit from Monday to Friday.

In an interview, the Minister of State for National Security in the President’s Office, Dr Sydney Sekeramayi, said the meeting would be attended by Ministers of State Security, Home Affairs and Defence from the two countries.
Service chiefs, parks officials and immigration officers will also attend the meeting.

Botswana recently recalled its defence and intelligence attaches from Harare following the arrest of three armed wildlife officials who entered the country without clearance from authorities.

The country's Foreign Minister, Mr Phandu Skelemani issued a statement urging Harare to also recall its officials.
The Botswana Government had expressed frustration after Zimbabwe refused to release the rangers before the matter was heard in court. The rangers were later convicted by a Hwange magistrate and fined US$100 (or 20 days in prison).
Sources said the arrest of the rangers and the diplomatic row that followed the arrest would be one of the biggest issues on the agenda.

Dr Sekeramayi confirmed that the matter would be discussed with the aim of resolving the problem.
"We discuss every matter of concern to either party, in a spirit that allows us to solve any problems that would have arisen. We also respect that each country has its legal process which should be respected by the other," he said.
He said the JPC would also address matters of common interest in the defence and security sectors while home affairs, immigration and parks and wildlife issues will also come under discussion.

The two countries will give each other briefs on what is happening internally and discuss regional issues of common interest between them.

Efforts to get a comment from the Botswana Government spokesman, Dr Jeffress Ramsay, were fruitless.