At the beginning, the feud between President Mokgweetsi Masisi and his predecessor, General Ian Khama Seretse Khama presented itself as if it was something like a game of Yoyo being played to the amuzement of street onlookers. But in real terms, it was something extraordinary because it became apparent that one of the two men involved started behaving like a bull in a china shop. While Khama appeared to be winning the propaganda war, Masisi kept on saying he would spill the beans one day. At long last, he spilled the beans mid last month during the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) National Council in Gaborone. Masisi launched a total onslaught on Khama accusing the later of having grown in an environment where he got addicted to exercising power.
As if he would not enjoy life outside power, Masisi said, Khama demanded that after attaining the presidency, Masisi should consider appointing Tshekedi Khama vice president. From the reading of this demand, it would guarantee Ian Khama influence in the decision making. He would determine which way the country should be run and also make it easier for the ex-president to get whatever he wanted from government. In other words, Ian Khama wanted to rule from the grave. Some of the things the two men did or said do not have witnesses. This makes it difficult for one to choose where he stands. But on this particular one, Masisi seems to place Parks Tafa who was one of Khama’s trusted men as his witness.
According to Masisi, Parks Tafa got involved when Khama sent him to lobby Masisi to relinquish the party chairmanship in favour of Tshekedi. It appears the plan was that once Tshekedi attained the chairmanship of the party and Masisi the leadership, Tshekedi would be in a good position of becoming the vice president and ultimately the president via automatic succession arrangement. This was not the only thing which made Ian Khama bitter if Masisi is to be believed. He wanted more security personnel than what the constitution guarantees for a former president 15 men each armed with a rifle). Again he wanted more cooks.
When Masisi declined the man’s demands, troubles started. The nation began to hear allegations of the president plotting to assassinate the general (poisoning). To date the nation has not been presented with evidence of such a plot except claims that the claimant got a tip-off from a DIS agent. Of course it may be that Khama is not inventing stories, but a faceless story of serious nature like this one, is not credible. When the quarrel reached boiling point, Masisi said he enlisted the help of a mediation team of party elders such as Patrick Balopi, Festus Mogae, Ponatshego Kedikilwe, David Magang and Ray Molomo. My instinct informs me that Dr. Gaositwe Chiepe was amongst them even though President Masisi did not mention her name. The mediation group encouraged the two men to meet and resolve their differences. They did not meet and the mission disbanded. Masisi said Khama complained that it favoured him (president). Masisi told the BDP National Council that, at a later stage, Khama brought a group consisting of Charles Tibone, Satar Dada and Legwaila Legwaila to mediate.
This group was also removed because they were also accused of being on Masisi’s side. Masisi said Khama then opted for top civil servants, Peter Magosi and Elias Magosi to mediate and they pleaded with him to meet Khama. He agreed but Khama never honoured the appointment. As the stalemate intensified between the two men, Masisi said, Khama started approaching regional leaders asking them to mediate between them. The regional leaders included Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, King Mswati of Eswatin and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. To some of these regional leaders, Masisi said Khama pleaded with them to persuade him to allow him to return home to which Masisi replied, “Khama has his red passport and knows his way home”.
Within hours of Masisi speech, Khama’s response was going viral on social media. The speed with which it was released was as if it had long been prepared and embargoed for that time. He accused Masisi alleging that he has “twisted the facts and invented stories that he knows never happened”. He denied ever asking Masisi to appoint Tshekedi Khama to the position of vice president. In his statement, Khama says he had been told that Masisi was a divisive character who did not respect public officers. He says some of the public officers “confided in me issues of ill-treatment, use of derogatory language and gross impoliteness” on the part of Masisi.
Khama also denies ever choosing any group of elders to favor him. He says the second team of Sadar Dada, Charles Tibone, Ambassador Legwaila Legwaila and Daniel Kwelagobe came to him on their own contrary to what Masisi had told the BDP National Council. His version is that, that second team of elders had gone to him to seek his return to the BDP as in their view, the party was or is in disarray due to his separation from it and his campaigning against it and the significant loss of the Central District vote that will get wider in 2024. He said they met several times until they “gave up, not on me, but on Masisi who they said was himself unavailable to them”. The team, he said, abandoned the effort on their own.
The way Khama is portraying Masisi is surprising and hard to belief. After he had become a Member of Parliament for Moshupa, Masisi was appointed assistant Minister in the office of the President. He deputized for Lesego Motsumi. Their portfolio responsibility included matters affecting both Information Services and Broadcasting departments. I can vividly remember that the local private press started referring to him as the BDP’s rising star whenever they wrote about him. Surely they would not have showered him with that praise if they had seen him as being arrogant.
The other day he and Lesego Motsumi addressed a meeting of management staff during their familiarization tour of department of Information and Broadcasting. You could hear from his utterances that he was totally against victimization of the juniors by seniors. He wanted a healthy working relationship. He had picked a comment from a staff member which seemed to imply that, a certain officer in the level of deputy permanent secretary had the tendency of bulling junior officers.
During his short spell at the Ministry of Education, I got it from friends there that he was different. They told me that he would not pass-by without greeting the staff he came across. Occasionally he would stand by the lift at the ground floor to greet the staff as they arrived for work. Surely this is not the behaviour of a man who ill-treats his subordinates. Since Masisi has implicated several party elders, it is appropriate to invited them to shed an idea to see what they have to say. As far as I can remember they have not been given a chance to either confirm or deny. At least Festus Mogae has been approached at some stage. In a video which has been going viral in the past, Mogae said he regretted appointing Khama his vice.
He can be heard saying he appointed him to be a unifier, something which he failed to do He can also be heard saying Khama is doing the things he was doing when he was his vice president. These questions are directed at messers Magang, Kedikilwe, Balopi. Gentlemen, Masisi says your mission failed because Khama felt you had taken side by supporting the President. Is it correct that you were biased against Khama and if yes, why? What was the atmosphere in the meetings that you held with the two men? How far did you go before calling off the mediation efforts?
The following questions are directed at Sadar Dada, Daniele Kwelagobe, Charles Tibone and Ambassador Legwaila. Gentlemen, Masisi says you were invited by Khama, Khama says he did not. He says you invited yourselves. Who is telling the truth between the President and his immediate predecessor? If indeed you invited yourselves, what motivated you to do that. Masisi says Khama pushed you away and Khama himself denies this saying you left on your own. Were you pushed out or you left on your own volition? If Khama did not refuse to cooperate with you, why did you leave without having achieved the desired results of your mission?
The following questions are directed at the two Magosis. I understand that at some stage you attempted to mediate in the feud between Masisi and Khama, how did you enter the fray, in other words did somebody ask you to do that or you did it by yourselves only? Did your mission produce positive results? If not do you regret having tried? During the Khama’s administration, EFF leader, Julius Malema was placed on visa restrictions to enter Botswana, and here we are, Khama has fled the Masisi’s administration to Malema’s base, does this make political and security sense? Masisi says Khama has been in contact with some selected regional leaders asking them to intervene between him and our President and he Khama does not deny having done that, why has he chosen not to approach Cyril Ramaphosa who is hosting him and is the nearest Head of State to Gaborone?
Similarly, what are your thoughts on why the same Cyril Ramaphosa is allowing General Khama to use South Africa as a launching pad for verbal attack on Botswana? Lastly gentlemen, is there any room left for one to successfully bring the former President and his successor together in a bid to iron out their differences or any attempt will be a wild goose chase? Responses to these questions can be posted in your respective face book pages for the public to see.
