The high cost of taming Khama
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday July 3, 2023 06:00
In what they term an effort to protect Botswana's political stability and economic interests, the Office of the President (OP) this week hosted international journalists at Big Valley Game Lodge in Lobatse.
The project included interviews with government officials and a series of press conferences seeking to address the former president's continuous 'sabotage of the current government and the dissemination of false information'.
Just recently, Khama submitted his dossier titled 'Chronicles of Persecution 2018–2023' to the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and all embassies in Botswana in which he alleges that his successor, Masisi has shown a serious disregard for human rights and the rule of law.
The dossier consists of 36 extensive annexures containing serious allegations against Masisi and the Director General of the Directorate on Intelligence and Security (DIS), Peter Magosi.
The move rubbed the government the wrong way and soon a plan was in motion as a rebuttal was prepared and widely circulated. Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lemogang Kwape would also tour radio and television stations to rebut the dossier. As if that was not enough, the Office of the President took it further to engage international media to rebut Khama’s utterances.
Information shared with this publication is that the OP has been closely monitoring the political activities of Khama.
'Khama has been engaged in an aggressive campaign aimed at discrediting President Masisi and the government through a well-orchestrated international media strategy. Through the publication of false and alarming claims, Khama and his associates have eroded public trust in the government's ability to maintain the rule of law and protect human rights,' reads a document on the project seen by this publication.
OP is of the view that utilising social media and international media outlets, Khama has propagated one-sided narratives, providing no opportunity for Masisi or government officials to respond. This biased representation of events, they said has resulted in negative perceptions and potential harm to Botswana's economic and political interests.
To address this threat, OP gathered international media representatives and provided government officials, including President Masisi, the opportunity to refute claims made by Khama.
The project includes a schedule of activities and interviews with high-ranking government officials such as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kwape and the Minister of Presidential Affairs Kabo Morwaeng. The interviews took place on June 27 followed by a dinner at the hotel. On the following day, interviews with DIS' Magosi, the Director of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Director General of the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime, and representatives from the House of Chiefs are scheduled.
In addition to the interviews, press conferences and meetings with academics and other stakeholders including Botswana Patriotic Front president Biggie Butale were planned to be hosted today (Friday).
The project budget was over P200,000 just to take care of visiting media. This does not include transport fairs for the said journos. The invited international media include prominent outlets such as CNN (Harare), KBC TV Station (Kenya), Voice of America, Nation Media Group (Kenya), Reuters (yet to confirm), SABC, The Star, eNCA, NewsRoom Afrika, City Press, Daily Maverick, Power FM, 702 Radio, BBC, and CGTN (China).
Efforts to engage Permanent Secretary of Government Communications John-Thomas Dipowe proved futile as his mobile phone rang unanswered by press time.
For his part, Khama said he was unfazed by the media campaign. “I am not aware but not surprised. I have exposed their abuse of power, others have done so in that dossier, the UN Human Rights Council have done so, court judgments as well, unions, political parties, others in civil society etc. I will continue to do so and that is why I am working on part two. They will try to mobilise their Cabinet to rebuff the facts and the truth with misinformation but at the end of the day, the people know the truth as we see them expressing such in elections by rejecting the regime and what it represents. They sent Cabinet led by Vice President Slumber Tsogwane to Palapye. The result? A single UDC council candidate defeated them all,” he said.