Geingob urged to intervene in Botswana dispute

PRESIDENT Hage Geingob should, as SADC chairperson, intervene in the dispute between former Botswana president Ian Khama and incumbent Mokgweetsi Masisi before the situation escalates into a crisis, analysts say.

Khama claimed in an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) last week that his relationship with Masisi was so bitter that they rarely talk to each other.

He said their relationship had divided the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), and had brought a lot of uncertainty in the country.

City Press, a South African Sunday newspaper, quoted Khama as saying he would “be seeking external interventions, if need be, to bring his country back to normality”.

According to City Press, the former president was in South Africa en route to India for an event at Dharamshala, the residence of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and the headquarters of the Tibetan government in exile.

The paper reported that central to the purported instability in Botswana was the political bickering between Masisi and Khama, who has publicly declared his support for ex-foreign minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi to challenge Masisi for the presidency of the governing BDP. The BDP will hold its elective congress in May when, for the first time, the party’s presidency will also be contested.

According to City Press, Khama said he was recently invited to attend a meeting at the headquarters of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Gaborone by the chairperson, Namibian president Hage Geingob.

“He asked to see me so I can give my side of the story. He expressed concern as a neighbour, as the chairman of SADC, and as a president in the region. He expressed concern [about Botswana] precisely because of what we have been saying: that this is not what we expect of Botswana,” Khama was quoted as saying.

In the same interview with the SABC, Khama added that his differences with Masisi did not affect SADC at the moment, “but certainly the party is going through some difficult times as a result, and that is why it needs to be resolved sooner or later this year”. “I wouldn’t call it a crisis, but over time it could lead to that. Things haven’t gotten that bad yet,” Khama said on SABC.

Political analyst Charles Mubita told The Namibian that Geingob must intervene in the disputes between Khama and Masisi to contain the situation before it deteriorates to “unmanageable heights”.

Mubita said as chairperson of SADC, Geingob had the mandate to prevent the destabilisation of peace and security in the region.

“It does not matter whether it is a party-political issue or it is an inter-governmental issue. The main concern is that what is happening has the potential of destabilising the country. And once you have instability in one SADC member state, it becomes difficult to embark on sustainable economic or social development and integration,” he reasoned.

Mubita added that what was happening in Botswana was “a political crisis” because the feud between the two was not only on party issues, but also on governance and policy issues.

“It also affects the international community in the sense that Botswana has always been a beacon of wildlife conservation, and they have policies on that, but those policies are now changing. So, it is now becoming a crisis that is built outside the borders of Botswana, and somehow it needs to be managed,” he said.

Mubita’s sentiments were echoed by University of Namibia political science lecturer, Hoze Riruako, who said Geingob had a “very important role to play” in settling the disputes between the two leaders, and maintaining peace in the regional block.

Riruako said: “The first thing that he should do is talk to Khama, and tell him straight that ‘you are retired and you are no longer the president’. And he should let the other guy run the party and the country”.

He added that Geingob as the SADC chairperson should have a vested interest to get involved “at this early stage to avoid the crisis that we have seen in Lesotho, the DRC and other countries, for instance where we have seen a number of coups”.

“The SADC chairperson has a role to play and look into the internal politics of a given country, let alone the problems emanating from a given political party, which in this case is the governing party. If things get out of hand, it may spoil things for Botswana and the SADC region at large, and it could come to a situation where there is a real crisis, and SADC would be called to keep peace and adjudicate between the parties in Botswana,” he stated.

Riruako added that Geingob needs to tell Masisi to return some of Khama’s benefits as former president to restore peace between them.

Ndumba Kamwanya, also a lecturer at Unam, however, believes that the situation in Botswana does not warrant an intervention from the SADC chairperson at this time “because it is not a crisis at all”.

“For me, it looks like it is more to do with the behaviour of those leaders. What the president (Geingob) can do is maybe to take note of what is happening and be alert, and when signs point to deterioration, maybe he can advise,” he said.