Africa-Press – Botswana. The conflict in Ukraine has generated a bewildering array of analogies.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has been compared to Adolf Hitler. Some believe Ukraine will become the new Afghanistan. Closer to home, former President Dr. Ian Khama has introduced a new analogy, comparing his arch-enemy President Dr. Mokgweetsi Masisi to Africa’s late madman, Idi Amin, who served as Uganda’s third president from 1971 to 1979.
In an interview with Overview Radio, a youthful digital platform hosted by Joey, the former president was straightforward and blunt about how he feels about president Masisi.
In response to a question about whether or not the government is correct in not allowing Bangwato to address issues regarding Khama at a kgotla meeting, he stated that the government was clearly violating Botswana’s constitution.
He indicated that as paramount chief, it does not make sense for the government to wake up one day “and decide they don’t like Khama, and his fellow tribespeople must not speak about him. Does that make sense?………That is totally Idi Amin staff. And there is very little difference, believe me, between Masisi and Idi Amin in the way that he abuses office,” said former president Khama.
He added: “They are violating our traditions and our culture. The tradition of the kgotla doesn’t come from post-independence Botswana. The kgotlas were there during the times of our forefathers and ancestors. When they went to the kgotla, the chief would be there to address his people on issues that affect the tribe. And they have the right to go there and talk.”
The latest jab comes as Batswana were beginning to feel euphoria that the hostility between President Masisi and Dr. Ian Khama is coming to an end after years of exchanging barbs.
On January 30th, former president Khama posted on his Facebook page that he was ready to start the reconciliation process following remarks that President Masisi is said to have made. “He is quoted as saying that he hopes one day he and I can find common ground…….So, in response to his public statement, let me publicly respond by saying that I have asked my brother, Honourable Tshekedi Khama, to return to Botswana and meet with President Masisi or whoever the President may appoint to meet with him, in order to commence the process of reconciliation in ours and the nation’s interests,” reads part of the statement posted on Facebook by former president Khama.
Among other things, Khama also launched a fresh attack on local government and rural development minister, Kgotla Autlwetse accusing him of being “a schemer, divisive, immature.” He said he is easily manipulated like a puppet with no backbone and “has poor character traits.”
He also brought up the alleged shootout between police and suspected armed foreign nationals that occurred in Block 8, Gaborone, in January.
He stated that it was strange that no one heard any gunfire, in contrast to other shootouts in Gaborone where the crime scene contained numerous spent bullet casings or bullet holes. He adds that the whole thing was fabricated and clumsily done unless the guns “were on silent.”
In addition, he stated that neither the name of the purported victim of injuries during the shootout nor the name of the hospital to which he was taken had been disclosed.
He also questioned why the Botswana government did not inform South Africa about alleged mercenaries who had been trained in Limpopo, South Africa, who crossed into Botswana with weapons of war to kill the president. “Why didn’t they tell South Africans to go there and investigate? This thing was fabricated from beginning to the end,” he says.
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