from ODIRILE TOTENG in Gaborone, Botswana
Botswana Bureau
GABORONE, (CAJ News) – WITH the Botswana election due on Wednesday 30th October, former president Gen. Ian Khama has taken the fight to his successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, via a provocative approach to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
On Wednesday 16 October, Gaborone law firm Mack Bahuma Attorneys presented a letter to the DPP demanding that state officials and others who signed off allegations made against Khama and South African national, Bridgette Motsepe be prosecuted.
In 2019, shortly after taking power, Masisi’s government claimed that Khama and Motsepe had defrauded the treasury of more than $10 billion, equivalent to almost half the annual gross domestic product (GDP) of Botswana.
The money had, according to the report, been deposited in a number of banks around the world.
Bridgette Motsepe is sister to Tshepo Ramaphosa, wife of the South African president.
An investigation paid for by Motsepe — plus a review of documents by South Africa’s former public protector Thuli Madonsela — found no evidence that money was missing from the national accounts. And the named banks opened their books to show that none of the alleged deposits had been made.
A copy of the new letter from lawyers representing Khama and Motsepe os in possession of Centre for African Journalists, CAJ News.
In August 2021, the High Court in Gaborone ruled that the charge sheet against the pair had been “deliberately fabricated”.
The government appealed the judgement, and lost.
General Khama (71) has spent much of Masisi’s first term exiled in South Africa, saying his life was in danger. But on 13 September he drove home to Gaborone and appeared in court the same day.
A warrant of arrest that had been laid against him was dropped and charges related to the allegations and to claims he held unlicenced firearms while living in Botswana have been postponed until after the election.
The ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) was established by Ian Khama’s father, founding president Sir Seretse Khama, who with his white English wife, Ruth Williams, served as head of state until his death in 1980.
Their son became commander of the army, then vice president and finally took the top job in 2008.
A passionate conservationist, he banned hunting; Masisi overturned the ruling though sport hunting in Botswana is governed by a tight set of rules and licences.
While the BDP has held sole power since independence from Britain in 1966, Botswana is one of the few African countries not to have experienced either a coup or a period of despotic rule.
However, at the coming election it faces a united coalition of parties known as the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC), led by Harvard lawyer Duma Boko.
Boko has been holding massive rallies across the country while Masisi’s campaign has been muted, fuelling rumours that he is unwell. His office insists the president is in good health.
Boko has also spoken out over a decision by the British-based Anglo American to sell its diamond firm, de Beers.
Diamonds, mainly sold via de Beers, account for well-over half of Botswana’s export revenue and Boko says he will establish a global consortium to buy the company and headquarter in Gaborone.
The world price of diamonds has crashed in recent years – thanks to factory made gems which are now identical to the mined product.
In 2018, just two per cent of engagement rings in the United States (US) carried a factory diamond but by 2023 this had risen to 40 per cent.
The lower price allows couples to buy a larger stone for the same money.
Thus far there appear to be no takers for de Beers.
Polling in Botswana by AfroBarometer suggests a majority of voters are dissatisfied with the current regime; youth unemployment and rising prices are the main concerns.
Boko says he will use wealth from the country’s key sectors — diamonds, coal, beef and tourism — to diversify the economy with lower tax rates for investors and start-ups.
Earlier this year, Australian firm BHP made a $49 billion offer for Anglo American but the deal was rejected.
BHP had also planned to sell de Beers but would have faced the same problem in finding a buyer, given that future income from the brand is all-but impossible to predict while demand for diamonds continues to fall.
None of this is playing out in talk around the election which is more about jobs and a falling standard of living.
Now an issue that appeared to have passed is back in the national conversation. The lawyer’s letter demanding that the Directorate of Public Prosecutions lay charges against the president’s associates has once again cast doubt on the Masisi government and its integrity.
It is a risky ploy given that the State House was no longer treating the matter as a priority.
If re-elected, Masisi may be fired up by the latest approach to the DPP, making life difficult for Gen Khama should he choose to remain in the country he once ruled.
But the problem for both men lies more in legacy. In years to come, history books are likely to remember Khama and Masisi more for their long-running spat than for any good they achieved in office.
– CAJ News