Ian Khama, the former President of Botswana, has said he aims to make sure his successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, serves only one term.
Khama, who served as president of the country from 2008 to 2018, is currently in South Africa because of what he says is persecution at home.
Khama is the son of Seretse Khama, Botswana’s first post-independence President.
Khama has said he made a mistake in allowing Masisi to succeed him, saying that cabinet ministers had given him warnings, which he had failed to heed.
According to News24, Khama said on a podcast, hosted by Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Trevor Ncube: ‘We are human, we make mistakes. I made a big mistake because this has affected the whole country and it’s a mistake I regret. I have admitted it publicly back in Botswana. I have apologised to the nation for bringing this upon them and I have said that I will do my utmost to get him [Masisi] out of office in the next elections.’
He also said that democracy was under threat in Botswana, a view shared by a number of think tanks and analysts around the world.
Elections are due in Botswana next year. In the last election held in 2019, Masisi’s governing Botswana Democratic Party won 38 of the 65 parliamentary seats. The Botswana Patriotic Front, of which Khama is a member, won three seats.
Image: Flickr, Foreign and Commonwealth Office