By Tracy Tafirenyika and Donald Matthys
6 November 2024
Ian Khama reflects on Bostwana’s historic vote and warns of a similar fate for Swapo if citizens remain dejected.
Former Botswana president Ian Khama has warned Swapo that it risks losing the upcoming national elections if citizens are not happy with the ruling party’s performance in the past 34 years.
He says the southern African region is undergoing change as liberation movements are slowly losing their grip on power.
“No party is immune to what’s been happening in the region, and I think for Swapo also there is no time frame of how long a party should stay in power,” Khama said in an interview broadcasted on Desert Radio yesterday.
He said voters elect leaders purely based on service delivery performance.
“Are their living conditions improving, is their welfare improving, is the economy stable, is corruption being kept down, so you don’t have people driven by self-interest?” he asked.
He said if a party meets these expectations, it deserves to stay in power.
“Let them stay there for 40 years, 50 years or 60 years if they are doing a good job while in government. But if they are not, they should expect what happened in Botswana to happen to them,” Khama said.
He said he is not close to Swapo any more.
“I had far more interaction with Swapo when I was in the Botswana Defence Force. Since I left office, that interaction is not at the same level it used to be,” he said.
‘TOO LITTLE TOO LATE’
The former president said it’s too late for any political party, such as Swapo, to avoid losing elections.
“We are already in November. There is little advice l can give them (Swapo) that can change their fortunes, people judge what has happened in the last five years not what is happening in a few weeks,” he said.
He gave an example of how Masisi was grasping for relevance a few weeks before elections.
“He was running around the country, launching new projects which did not have funding, just to make it look like we are on the path of doing things,” Khama said, adding that “people were not fooled”.
He said Swapo will be judged on five years and not a few weeks.
Khama was Botswana’s president on the Botswana Democratic Party’s ticket – a party that was founded by his father, Seretse Khama.
He is now a member of the Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF).
The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has governed the country since independence from Britain in 1966, lost power to the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), led by lawyer Duma Boko, on Friday.
THE TIES THAT BIND
Khama said the diplomatic and bilateral relations between Namibia are not expected to change under Boko’s administration.
“In fact, I would expect that he would build on . . . what has been achieved in relations between Botswana and Namibia . . . and even further improve and bring us even closer together,” he said.
Executive director of international relations and cooperation Penda Naanda says the two countries’ relationship will continue to remain strong, regardless of the outcome of the elections.
“Relations between states go beyond individuals. Individuals come and go, but states remain. Our relations with Botswana will remain strong and will continue to be strengthened,” he says.
Meanwhile, Swapo deputy secretary general Uahekua Herunga says the party will not interfere with the internal affairs of another country.
“Swapo will never ever interfere with the internal affairs of a different country or a sovereign country, it will never interfere with the political party of a different country,” he says.
Herunga says the BDP is a sister party of Swapo and will continue to be so.
“The BDP lost the elections fairly, so it will continue being our sister party and will never stop being the liberation party. They liberated their country . . . inasmuch as Swapo remains Namibia’s liberation party,” he said.
‘MISMANAGEMENT’
Khama accused Masisi of recklessly managing Botswana’s economy and promising projects while there was no funding to realise them.
He said Botswana’s new government has to do serious auditing to determine the real impact of Masisi’s administration on the country’s financial situation.
“There’s a lot of pillaging going on, and the way financial regulations were flouted that have been in place . . . we were proud of our prudent financial management as a country.
So they’ve got to do an audit for the first time to see what is there to get investors back,” he said.
DE BEERS AND BOTSWANA
Khama said Masisi pushed investors, such as De Beers, away from Botswana.
“We have to make sure the repair work is done and give people the confidence to come back to Botswana and repair the damage that was done by what I might say is a childish and immature attitude Masisi took towards De Beers.
“De Beers has been our partner for many, many years,” he said.
After his victory, Boko said he wanted to conclude talks on a new sales pact with De Beers as soon as possible.
“I am happy to hear president Boko saying one of the first things he’s going to do is to send a team to go and talk to De Beers, and to go and sit down like adults and work this thing out. I am confident they will achieve that, and we’ll see things improving,” Khama said.
LIFE AFTER POLITICS
Reflecting on his political past, Khama said when he came to power in 2008, he had “grand plans” for Botswana, which were hindered by matters beyond his control.
“When you’re in government, all the things you promised in your manifesto could be undermined by matters beyond your control. When I came into office in 2008, I had grand plans for the economy and the development of the country, and we were hit by the world economic downturn.
“You then had to start from square one all over again and come up with measures to try to cushion the blow,” he said.
The former president said Boko will be faced with similar challenges.
“This is something he’s going to have to deal with, and he’s going to find, apart from the drought, the damage that has been done to the economy by the previous regime,” he said.
Khama has retired from active politics and is now based at his home village of Serowe.
“I have come here to resume the chieftainship full-time, and I will continue with my charitable work as a former president here and in other parts of the country and also in conservation.
“I am also involved in a few projects like the Pan-African Heritage Museum in Ghana, which will be a one-stop shop for all Africa’s traditions and heritage for people in Africa and the diaspora,” he said.
He said he was looking forward to retiring from politics six years ago after his presidency.
“I thought that day was six years ago when Masisi took over, but I clung on to politics, because I realised that was the only weapon I could use to get rid of him.
“Having achieved that, I will now dump politics.”
*Listen to the full interview on Desert radio website: https://www.desertradio.fm/
