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BOTSWANA: Presidential Transition

BOTSWANA: Presidential Transition Festus Mogae will join a select group of African leaders who willingly step down. Festus Gontabanye Mogae, the President of Botswana, will retire from office on March 31st, 2008. In doing so, Mogae will not be stepping down voluntarily. He will not be doing so as a favour to his people. He will not be yielding to public pressure. It will not be because he has found a suitable successor or because he has completed all the important work that he started. It certainly will have nothing to do with his age. He is only 68. President Mogae will step down from the presidency for a very simple reason, one which he stated towards the end of his State of the Nation Address before the Botswana Parliament in early November. Mogae said: “Mr Speaker, in accordance with the Constitution, I will leave the leadership of our country to His Honour the Vice President, a patriot who I am sure will carry the mantle of leadership with distinction, as he has previously done”. The Constitution of the Republic of Botswana allows Mogae, who took office on April 1st, 1998, to serve as president for a maximum of 10 years. What makes Mogae's impending departure worthy of comment is the rarity of such presidential adherence to the constitutions of Africa, especially when it comes to term limits. The inconvenience of presidential term limits is usually addressed by the incumbents through manipulation of their subjects and parliaments to amend the constitutions in order to abolish the said term limits. “ Uganda ’s President Yoweri T. Museveni performed a masterful act two years ago, when he used tricks and treats, threats and pretended innocence during the Kisanja [Fifth Term] scam that forced parliament to abolish presidential term limits, The Monitor , Kampala, commented And now we are watching a similar spectacle in Cameroon where efforts are already underway to try and amend the constitution to enable President Paul Biya , who has ruled the country since 1982, to stand for re‐election in 2011”. No Fanfare Mogae joins a select group of African leaders who have chosen the law over greed, principle over expediency, national interest. The small list includes South Africa ’s Nelson Mandela , Mali 's Alpha Omar Konare, Mozambique ’s Joachim Chissano and Tanzania ’s Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamin Mkapa . These are leaders who ascended to power through clean and non‐violent means, led their countries with honour and did not try to hang on to power. Mandela and Chissano chose not to stand for re‐election although they were constitutionally eligible to do so. It is tempting to give full credit to Mogae and other leaders who have heeded the law. Yet the people who deserve a pat on the back are the citizens of their countries who did not attempt to organise Kisanja [third term] scams on behalf of the incumbent president. Indeed Mogae paid tribute to every citizen of Botswana, “young and old, for choosing to make our country what it is today, a country that has chosen the path of peaceful political contest over conflict, progress over regression; a country with a rich democratic political tradition and something positive to demonstrate and contribute to the rest of the world”. It is the people who must take ultimate credit or blame for the happenings in their land. It is not surprising then that the debate and speculation in the Botswana media is not about Mogae, but about the nature and expected leadership style of Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama , the man who will become president on March 31st, 2008. Time will tell what sort of leader Gen. Khama will be, just as history will, in due course, pronounce its judgement on the Mogae presidency. What is relevant today is that Botswana, with all its unresolved social, economic and political problems, has added an element of predictability to its already established tradition of smooth transitions from one president to another. When Sir Seretse Khama , Botswana's first president, died in office in 1980, power transferred to Vice‐President Ketumile Masire without much fanfare. ( The Monitor, Kampala 12/11 ) http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series Wiley

BOTSWANA: Presidential Transition

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0001-9844
eISSN
1467-825X
DOI
10.1111/j.1467-825X.2007.01363.x
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Abstract

Festus Mogae will join a select group of African leaders who willingly step down. Festus Gontabanye Mogae, the President of Botswana, will retire from office on March 31st, 2008. In doing so, Mogae will not be stepping down voluntarily. He will not be doing so as a favour to his people. He will not be yielding to public pressure. It will not be because he has found a suitable successor or because he has completed all the important work that he started. It certainly will have nothing to do with his age. He is only 68. President Mogae will step down from the presidency for a very simple reason, one which he stated towards the end of his State of the Nation Address before the Botswana Parliament in early November. Mogae said: “Mr Speaker, in accordance with the Constitution, I will leave the leadership of our country to His Honour the Vice President, a patriot who I am sure will carry the mantle of leadership with distinction, as he has previously done”. The Constitution of the Republic of Botswana allows Mogae, who took office on April 1st, 1998, to serve as president for a maximum of 10 years. What makes Mogae's impending departure worthy of comment is the rarity of such presidential adherence to the constitutions of Africa, especially when it comes to term limits. The inconvenience of presidential term limits is usually addressed by the incumbents through manipulation of their subjects and parliaments to amend the constitutions in order to abolish the said term limits. “ Uganda ’s President Yoweri T. Museveni performed a masterful act two years ago, when he used tricks and treats, threats and pretended innocence during the Kisanja [Fifth Term] scam that forced parliament to abolish presidential term limits, The Monitor , Kampala, commented And now we are watching a similar spectacle in Cameroon where efforts are already underway to try and amend the constitution to enable President Paul Biya , who has ruled the country since 1982, to stand for re‐election in 2011”. No Fanfare Mogae joins a select group of African leaders who have chosen the law over greed, principle over expediency, national interest. The small list includes South Africa ’s Nelson Mandela , Mali 's Alpha Omar Konare, Mozambique ’s Joachim Chissano and Tanzania ’s Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Benjamin Mkapa . These are leaders who ascended to power through clean and non‐violent means, led their countries with honour and did not try to hang on to power. Mandela and Chissano chose not to stand for re‐election although they were constitutionally eligible to do so. It is tempting to give full credit to Mogae and other leaders who have heeded the law. Yet the people who deserve a pat on the back are the citizens of their countries who did not attempt to organise Kisanja [third term] scams on behalf of the incumbent president. Indeed Mogae paid tribute to every citizen of Botswana, “young and old, for choosing to make our country what it is today, a country that has chosen the path of peaceful political contest over conflict, progress over regression; a country with a rich democratic political tradition and something positive to demonstrate and contribute to the rest of the world”. It is the people who must take ultimate credit or blame for the happenings in their land. It is not surprising then that the debate and speculation in the Botswana media is not about Mogae, but about the nature and expected leadership style of Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama , the man who will become president on March 31st, 2008. Time will tell what sort of leader Gen. Khama will be, just as history will, in due course, pronounce its judgement on the Mogae presidency. What is relevant today is that Botswana, with all its unresolved social, economic and political problems, has added an element of predictability to its already established tradition of smooth transitions from one president to another. When Sir Seretse Khama , Botswana's first president, died in office in 1980, power transferred to Vice‐President Ketumile Masire without much fanfare. ( The Monitor, Kampala 12/11 )

Journal

Africa Research Bulletin: Political, Social and Cultural Series – Wiley

Published: Dec 1, 2007

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