Botswana government has announced that president Ian Khama will on Thursday 14th December 2017 begin his national farewell tours.
‘ ‘We are pleased to announce that His Excellency, Lieutenant General Dr. Seretse Khama Ian Khama, will on Thursday 14 December 2017 begin his national farewell tours.’’ A statement from Botswana government reads in part.
President Ian Khama announced early this year that will step down after serving his two terms.
Botswana has in the past been hailed as one of the shining examples in Africa, with organizations such as Transparency International rating the southern African country as one of the least corrupt countries in Africa
President Khama, who also leads the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), will be replaced by his deputy President Mokgweetsi Masisi. Seretse Khama Ian Khama – the son of Sir Seretse Khama, Botswana’s first post-independence leader – took over as president in April 2008.
He was the chosen successor of Festus Mogae, who stepped down at the end of his second term, after a decade at the helm.
The younger Khama secured a five-year term in October 2009 after BDP swept to victory in a parliamentary election. He secured a second term following the August 2014 polls, in which his party won the most seats.
He had became the Botswana vice-president in 1998. The forthcoming transfer of power will take place during the BDP congress, the Southern Times newspaper reported.
According to the the Southern Times, the tradition of the BDP was that the vice-president should automatically succeed the outgoing president.
Botswana is one of the Africa’s most stable countries and the continent’s longest continuous multi-party democracy.
The southern African nation was relatively free of corruption and has a good human rights record. His no-nonsense approach has made him popular abroad as he has broken ranks with regional leaders’ timid approach to the democratic abuses by Zimbabwe’s [ former] President Robert Mugabe
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